Invest News DetailReuters - An intergovernmental accord for the Nabucco natural gas pipeline will be signed in Ankara on July 13, Romania's Economy Minister said on Friday. The pipeline, intended to give the EU an alternative supply of 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 disagreements among stakeholders. "On July 13, the intergovernmental accord on Nabucco will be signed in Türkiye," Adriean Videanu told Reuters by telephone from Azerbaijan where he is on a two-day visit. Representatives from Türkiye, 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. The USD 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.