The Export-Import Bank of the United States may play a part in financing the Nabucco gas pipeline project, the U.S. secretary of state’s special envoy for Eurasian energy matters, Richard Morningstar, has said.

The United States has offered and continued to offer its backing for Nabucco, Morningstar said. If the project goes ahead and U.S. companies are brought in for the construction, it is possible there could be financing by the ExIm Bank, he said.

The United States supports the development of the Southern Gas Corridor, and any pipeline project in the context of it, but on the condition that the project is smaller than Nabucco and is guaranteed to expand to move larger volumes of gas in the future, he said.

Meetings during his present visit to Baku, Morningstar said, have shown that there is a commonality of views between the United States and Azerbaijan in regards to the corridor’s development.

Morningstar said he had no doubt that it will move a lot of gas, but when that would be is the question. That is why it is important that the Shah Deniz consortium and State Oil Company of the Azerbaijani Republic (SOCAR) select one of the largest pipeline projects compared with Nabucco for the corridor, but one that has room for expansion, he said.

The United States will also support the Trans-Caspian gas pipeline project if Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, and the European Union agree to the terms for its implementation, Morningstar said. These negotiations are already underway, he noted, but it is impossible at this point to say precisely when the project might begin.