The backers of the Nabucco pipeline, an ambitious 3,300km scheme to ship gas from central Asia to Europe, remain confident the project is on track, in spite of the conflict between Russia and Georgia.

Christened at a dinner in 2002 after the project's founders had seen the Verdi opera of the same name, Nabucco has been backed strongly by the European Union and the US, keen for Europe to access gas supplies without Russia.