Nabucco gas pipeline nations wary of Iran - U.S. envoy

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Countries participating in the Nabucco gas pipeline consortium would not agree to Iranian participation as a supplier now, even if some of them might like to see it eventually, U.S. special energy envoy Richard Morningstar said on Thursday.

"I don't think there would be agreement at this point among the Nabucco consortium for Iranian participation at this time," the U.S. envoy for Eurasian energy told the Senate Foreign Relations committee.

"Some countries in that region would like to see Iran participate," he said, but added, "I don't think anybody expects participation now." He reiterated that the United States did not think Iran should participate now.

European Union countries and Turkey on Monday signed a transit deal for the Nabucco gas pipeline, aimed at cutting Europe's energy dependence on Russia by supplying gas from the Caspian Sea and Middle East.

Transit countries Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and Austria signed the accord for the 7.9 billion euro (6.8 billion pounds) project, which is backed by the European Union and United States.

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan has said he wanted Iranian gas to glow through the pipeline. But Morningstar said he believed Erdogan was speaking about Iranian participation "at some point."

Iran has the world's second largest gas reserves, almost 16 percent of the world's total, but has no major net exports, partly because U.S. and U.N. sanctions have deterred investments by Western firms.

Morningstar said that, if Iran did make the choice to engage with Washington and resolved issues it had with the United States, including the issue of its nuclear program,

"then participation in the energy sector would be a positive benefit for them."

(Reporting by Susan Cornwell; Editing by Walter Bagley)