Daily gas supplies from Azerbaijan to Bulgaria tripled

Baku/02.07.22/Turan: Bulgaria on July 1 started to obtain from Azerbaijan daily gas volumes triple the previous figure, which in fact means reaching the contract volumes approved in 2013 in Baku.

An informed source told Turan that owing to the fact that the Interconnector Greece Bulgaria (IGB) has not yet been put into operation, gas has been going to Bulgaria since July 1 through a temporary connection point with Greece in Nea Messemvria.

Previously, from January 2021 to July 1, 2022 Bulgaria obtained Azerbaijani gas through the Kula-Sidirokastro junction on the border with Greece - about 0.9 million cubic meters per day on average.

Since July 1, 2022, the daily volume of Azerbaijani gas supplies to Bulgaria rose to 2.6-2.7 million cubic meters per day.

"Since July 1 an amendment to the contract signed in Baku by Bulgargaz has been extended. According to this amendment, Bulgaria receives gas not at the contract price, but at a higher one. At the contract price the deliveries will start tentatively in September 2022, and at this attractive price Bulgaria will obtain 2.6 million cubic meters of gas per day from Shah Deniz. On the whole, Bulgaria may receive from Azerbaijan in 2022 more than 600 million cubic meters of gas, nearly three times more than in 2021. Already since 2023, the annual volume will reach its peak of 1 bln cu m per year," the source said.

According to him, all summer Bulgaria and Greece have to go through various EU procedures for obtaining a permit to commission the built 182-kilometer IGB.

"The start of commercial contract deliveries under the IGB is scheduled for September 2022," the source explained.

Bulgaria's Energy Ministry said on July 1 that the IGB pipeline will be operational in time for the upcoming heating season, but "every effort will be made to get it operational earlier."

Earlier, in late June, Bulgarian and Greek energy regulators passed a joint decision certifying the IGB operating company as an independent fuel transfer operator (ITO).

"This move paves the way for the commissioning of the Greece-Bulgaria Interconnector (IGB) after July 1, which will help Bulgaria achieve diversification and security of gas supply and obtain gas volumes that provide favorable prices for Bulgarian end users," the Bulgarian regulator EWRC said in a July 1 statement. 

Bulgaria believes that the capacity of IGB can be increased up to 3 billion cubic meters a year, which will allow Bulgaria and the countries of Southeast Europe region to get additional gas volumes not only through the Southern Gas Corridor (from Azerbaijan), but also import liquefied natural gas (LNG) from USA, Algeria, Qatar, Egypt and other suppliers through the LNG terminal in Alexandroupolis, Greece which is under construction now. 

In the long term, IGB will allow imports of natural gas from Israel and Cyprus, as well as increased volumes imported from other countries.

The 182-kilometer pipeline, worth 220 million euros ($229.8 million), connects the Greek gas transmission system near Komotini with the Bulgarian gas network near Stara Zagora. 

This gas pipeline is considered as an important element within the European Union's goals of completely phasing out Russian gas purchases by 2030.

Note that in April 2022 Gazprom stopped gas deliveries to Bulgaria, which does not want to pay for the "blue fuel" in rubles. At the same time, the contract between Bulgargaz and Gazprom officially expires in December 2022.

The relations between Russia and Bulgaria have deteriorated, but the Bulgarian government hopes that supplies of Azerbaijani gas and LNG from the US in 2022 will fully cover the country's needs.-0-