Bulgaria signs natural gas link deal With Romania and Greece
Bulgaria took a step toward reducing its dependence on Russian energy supplies by agreeing to build a link to natural gas grids in neighboring Romania and Greece, according to a senior government official quoted by WSJ.com.
2015-04-23 13:32:42
"We are finally getting a new source of gas because until now we were totally reliant on one source—Russia," said Bulgaria's Deputy Energy Minister Zhecho Stankov.
Bulgaria consumes about 3 billion cubic meters of natural gas a year and relies on Russian energy giant OAO Gazprom for 95 per cent of its gas.
The new link agreed between Bulgaria, Romania and Greece, known as a vertical gas corridor, will cost about 220 million Euro (236.2 million dollars) and become operational in 2018,Mr. Stankov said. Through the link, Bulgaria will be able to buy gas from Azerbaijan and from Greece's liquefied natural gas terminals, he said.
The agreement, signed by energy officials from the three countries in the Bulgarian capital Sofia, comes as the European Union on Wednesday accused Gazprom of raising barriers to competition in the gas markets in eight Central and Eastern European countries including Bulgaria.
Bulgaria is also seeking to ramp up its own production of natural gas. Last week, it launched a tender process for deep water gas and oil exploration off its Black Sea coastline, the deputy minister said.
In February, government officials said they were in talks with Royal Dutch Shell PLC, BP PLC, Statoil ASA and other oil companies for the exploration of Bulgaria's Teres and Silistar oil and gas blocks