Nabucco gas intergovernment deal to be signed July 13

ANKARA/BUCHAREST (Reuters) - An intergovernmental accord for the Nabucco natural gas pipeline will be signed in Ankara on July 13, Romania's Economy Minister said on Friday, confirming what Turkish and EU sources had told Reuters.

The pipeline, intended to relieve European dependence on Russian gas, is expected to bring Caspian and Middle East gas to Europe as early as 2014, but the project has been delayed by lack of supplies and infighting among stakeholders.

"On July 13, the intergovernmental accord on Nabucco will be signed in Turkey," Adriean Videanu told Reuters by telephone from Azerbaijan where he is on a two-day visit.

Turkey, which has few hydrocarbon resources of its own, has delayed the signing of transit agreements by demanding 15 percent of Nabucco's 31 billion cubic meter capacity throughput for its domestic usage or for re-export.

Videanu said Turkey's "15 percent issue" was now solved.

"As far as I know it is solved, but I do not know details."

The resolution of that may help push the Nabucco project ahead of the rival Russian pipeline project South Stream by shoring up the transit conditions for the pipeline.

Representatives from Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and Austria, the five countries through which the pipeline is planned to run, will sign the accord. Germany is the sixth Nabucco consortium member, but has no transit role.

South Stream pulled ahead of Nabucco in securing more supplies this week when Azerbaijan promised Gazprom priority in buying gas from the second phase of the major Shakh Deniz project.

The $11 billion Nabucco pipeline will ship gas from Iraq, Egypt, Azerbaijan and possibly Russia and Turkmenistan to Europe.

Iran can participate in the European Union-backed pipeline if Washington normalizes relations with Tehran, the U.S. Secretary of State's Special Envoy for Eurasian Energy has said.

(Writing by Thomas Grove, Editing by Peter Blackburn)