Sofia, April 29 - Neftegaz.RU. Bulgaria seeks more gas supplies from Azerbaijan after the Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria (IGB) comes online in September 2022.
The announcement came from Bulgarian Prime Minister Kiril Petkov, Caspian news has reported.
During his official visit to Greece, Petkov said IGB would become operational in late June, and the1st commercial gas on the pipeline would flow in September.
According to him, increased supplies from Azerbaijan mean lower prices and greater energy independence for Bulgaria.
In March 2022, the IGB operators announced that the interconnector was already integrated into the TAP, which carries Azerbaijani gas to Europe.
The launch of the interconnector is scheduled for July 2022, which will allow Bulgaria to directly receive Azerbaijani gas for the 1st time.
Once the IGB is online, it will initially provide Bulgaria with 1 billion m3 (bcm) of gas per year, while its capacity will reportedly reach up to 3 bcm annually.
Currently, Azerbaijani gas is supplied to Bulgaria through an existing line with a capacity of 3.68 bcm per year.
The small capacity allows for transporting only 250-300 million m3 of gas per annum, comprising a small portion of Bulgaria’s overall need for natural gas.
Petkov’s remarks came on the heel of Russia’s decision to wean off Poland and Bulgaria from Russian gas supplies due to «delayed payments» in the Russian national currency.
Bulgaria annually imports 3 bcm of Russian natural gas.
The EU has been importing natural gas from Azerbaijan via the TAP, the final segment of the Southern Gas Corridor mega pipeline, since December 31, 2020.
More than 11 bcm of gas has been transported to European markets since the commissioning of TAP.
In the 1st quarter of this year, the EU imported 2.6 bcm of Azerbaijani gas via the pipeline.
Officials are convinced that TAP’s annual throughput capacity could be increased to up to 20 bcm of gas per annum, supplying the energy to more markets in Europe.
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Bulgaria seeks more gas supplies from Azerbaijan
According to official data, the proven gas reserves of Azerbaijan trapped beneath the Caspian Sea is 2.6 trillion m3, of which 1 trillion is reserved at the largest Shah Deniz field.
