Baku, March 15 - Neftegaz.RU. Bulgaria is interested in additional gas supplies from Azerbaijan, Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov told reporters, Azernews informed. Borisov noted that during the meeting with President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, the issue of the construction of an interconnector for connecting to the TAP for the delivery of 1 billion m3 of gas to Bulgaria was discussed.
Bulgaria expects to receive Azerbaijani gas through Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria (IGB), a gas pipeline that will be connected to the TAP. IGB is a gas pipeline which will allow Bulgaria to receive Azerbaijani gas.
IGB is expected to be connected to TAP, to create an alternative source to Russian gas flowing to Bulgaria. The initial capacity of IGB will be 3 billion m3 of gas. The total investment cost for the realization of the IGB interconnector amounts to 240 million euros.
TAP in turn is a part of the Southern Gas Corridor which provides for the transportation of 10 billion m3 of Azerbaijani gas from the Caspian region through Georgia and Turkey to Europe. Bulgarian Bulgargaz has already concluded a contract with the Azerbaijani SOCAR for the delivery of 1 billion m3 per year from the second phase of Shah Deniz gas field.
Azerbaijani gas from Shah Deniz 2, which will be delivered to Bulgaria per year via IGB, will meet about 25-30% of the consumption of gas in Bulgaria, which is a serious share and will significantly increase Bulgaria’s energy security and promote competition on the Bulgarian gas market.
In addition, in July 2017, SOCAR and Bulgartransgaz, signed a MoU. According to the document, the parties will explore the possibility of additional gas supplies to Bulgaria and through it to other countries of South-Eastern Europe.
