Bulgaria has signed the agreement with Romania and Greece to build the connection between the gas transportation systems of the countries, said Deputy Energy Minister of Bulgaria Zhecho Stankov.
“We at last receive a new source of gas, because till now we were fully dependent on only one source – Russia,” Wall Street Journal cited Stankov.
Bulgaria consumes about 3 billion cub.m. of gas a year, 95% of which comes from Russian Gasprom.
The new connection known as vertical gas corridor, which will cost about 220 million Euro, is planned to be put into operation in 2018, Stankov said. Using this pipe Bulgaria will be able to buy gas from Azerbaijan and from the LNG terminals in Greece.
Bulgaria also tries to develop its own hydrocarbon resources. Last week Stankov said that the country is going to conduct the license round for the right to develop oil and gas blocs on the Black Sea shelf with the purpose to reduce energy dependence on Russia, diversify sources of energy carries and turn Bulgaria into a gas hub.
In February 2015 Bulgarian officials said that they have been negotiating with Royal Dutch Shell PLC, BP PLC, Statoil ASA and other oil companies to conduct exploration on Silistar and Teres blocs, reported http://www.1prime.ru.
