French Total, which is the head of the consortium, which won the tender for oil and gas exploration and production on Khan Asparukh bloc on the Bulgarian shelf of the Black Sea, has decided to return to the field development.
The geological exploration could begin on the shelf in early February 2016, Kzavye Fozhras, Director of the Bulgarian division of Total E&P Bulgaria company, told journalists.
According to the initial plans, it was planned to start the geological exploration works in early 2015, but the consortium has decided to postpone the works, because of slump of oil prices. In addition to Total, which is the operator of the project with 40% share, the consortium is also comprised of Austrian corporation OMV and Spanish concern Repsol with 30% share each.
The share of Khan Asparukh field is about 15,000 sq.km. Melrose Resources and ExxonMobil also competed for the concession agreement for the field development. Bulgaria named Total the winner of the bids in July 2012.
