Turkey urges all partners in Nabucco project to meet obligations

"The ball is on the court of our partners now. We are expecting them to meet their obligations," Guler told at the reception to mark the fifth anniversary of foundation of the American Business Forum in Turkey.

The Nabucco pipeline, planned to carry 30 billion cubic meters (bcm) of Caspian or Middle Eastern gas annually to an Austrian hub via Turkey, is seen as one of Europe's best hopes for limiting its dependence on Russian gas.

An intergovernmental agreement on Nabucco is expected to be signed in the second quarter of 2009. The Nabucco consortium aims to start the gas flow from the pipeline in 2014.

Guler said he believes the new Washington administration will take important steps in energy and other natural resources.

He urged the American companies to invest in the energy sector of Turkey, which he said, "is not effected by the global financial crisis."

Turkey plans to invest 125 billion dollars of energy investment including 105 billion dollars in electricty by 2020, Guler added.