IGB launched, however, commercial transactions to start in September

Baku/08.07.22/Turan: The opening ceremony of the Greece-Bulgaria Interconnector (IGB), which will transport Azerbaijani natural gas to Bulgaria, was held in the Komotini region of Greece on Friday, the press service of the Azerbaijani Energy Ministry said.

"The ceremony was attended by Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Bulgarian Prime Minister Kirill Petkov and Azerbaijani Energy Minister Parviz Shahbazov. The Minister conveyed congratulations of President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan to the participants of the event on the occasion of the IGB opening," the information says.

Shahbazov called the IGB implementation "as the beginning of important stage in the development of the TAP gas pipeline and as a sign of diversification of the Southern Gas Corridor with new branches.

The Ministry of Energy of Azerbaijan said that the opening of the IGB interconnector is strategically important event in the diversified energy supply of Bulgaria and South-Eastern Europe as a whole, and as consumer' access to affordable and clean energy, in particular.

According to him, Azerbaijan plans to export 600 million cubic meters of gas to Bulgaria in 2022.

"Gas exports to Bulgaria, which amounted to 160 million cubic meters in the first half of the year, are planned to reach a total of 600 million cubic meters by the end of 2022," Shahbazov said in Komotini.

He added that since July 1, 2022, the daily volume of gas supplies to Bulgaria is 2.6 million cubic meters, which means an increase of 1.7 million cubic meters per day.

"Azerbaijan is a stable and strategic source of diversified gas supplies for European countries, including Bulgaria and Greece. For more than a year (since December 31, 2020, from the launch of the SGC), 13.5 billion cubic meters of gas from Azerbaijan have been delivered to Europe. Greece supplied 1.4 bcm of it and Bulgaria 440 mcm", the Minister said.

He emphasized the importance of cooperation between the countries for sustainable energy security.

Shahbazov noted that the creation of the Southern Gas Corridor, its new branch of IGB, as well as the ability to supply Azerbaijani gas to Europe at the time of the greatest demand for such supplies are the result of "cooperation at the highest level, solidarity, mutual trust and support between our countries".

"The SGC is the greatest achievement of the energy partnership between the EU and Azerbaijan to date, and we intend to continue this success story," Shahbazov said.

The Minister added that the IGB is a harbinger of new projects towards expansion of the Southern Gas Corridor in the coming years.

Earlier SOCAR's source explained to Turan that the launch of commercial contract gas supplies via the IGB will take place in September, and Bulgaria will receive Azeri gas from July to September at a higher (non-contractual) price, although the volume of supplies will be the same as in the contract - about 2.6 million cubic meters per day.

Recall that in September 2013 the "Bulgargaz EAD" signed a 25-year agreement on the purchase of 1 billion cubic meters of Azerbaijani gas per year within the framework of "Stage-2" development of the Shah Deniz field. In May 2019, the groundbreaking ceremony for the IGB Interconnector took place in Kirkovo, Bulgaria.

In late March 2022, the IGB operator announced that the IGB had already been connected to the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), which will give Bulgaria its first access to gas from Azerbaijan.

With the IGB commissioning, the tie-in will initially provide Bulgaria with 1 billion cubic meters of gas per year with a further growth to the designed capacity of 3 billion cubic meters per year.

Recall that the Azerbaijani gas supplies to Europe - Italy, Greece and Bulgaria - began on December 31, 2020 through the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP). However, for lack of the interconnector the volume of Azerbaijani gas supplies to Bulgaria was several times down from planned - 250-300 million cubic meters a year instead of 1 billion cubic meters a year.-0-