OMV AG (OMV.VI), the Austrian partner of the planned Nabucco natural gas pipeline, is now in talks with Azerbaijan's state oil company SOCAR about gas supply for the European Union-backed pipeline project, the Austrian Finance Ministry said Thursday.

Nabucco, the EU and the six commercial partners in the project, intend to source up to 31 billion cubic meters of gas to Europe from the Caspian region as of 2015, bypassing Russia on the way.

But the partners still need to secure enough gas to fill the pipeline in the first years. The Azerbaijani gas field Shah Deniz II, which is currently being developed, has been named an anticipated key source. Negotiations between oil and gas companies, Azerbaijan and the consortium developing Shah Deniz II are expected to begin soon, but all parties involved declined to comment on the timing or the volume being offered.

Austrian State Secretary at the finance ministry, Reinhold Lopatka, said Thursday that negotiations have already started.

Austria has a great interest in Azerbaijan as a supplier for Nabucco, Lopatka said, adding that: "The state-owned energy group SOCAR is in negotiation with OMV (over gas supply)".

-By Flemming E. Hansen, Dow Jones Newswires; +43 1 513 69 22 10; flemming.hansen@dowjones.com
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