Bulgaria, Romania Launch Gas Pipeline
Bulgaria and Romania started a new natural gas pipeline on Friday as part of Sofia's efforts to reduce dependence on Russian gas. The 25-km pipeline, which runs under the Danube River and can operate in either direction, will allow Bulgaria to import gas from Europe. It will also support Bulgaria's bid to create a regional gas hub at the Black Sea port of Varna. "We can achieve a lot with our friends and neighbours from Romania... they are starting operations from today…
EU Ruling Against Bulgaria Over Gas Network is a Heavy Blow
EU antitrust regulators have told Bulgaria it should sell its state-owned gas network operator Bulgartransgaz or face fines of up to 300 million euros ($333.27 million), Bulgarian Prime Minister Boiko Borisov said on Wednesday. Speaking to reporters in Brussels, Borisov said such a sanction would be unacceptable to Bulgaria. Last year the EU executive commission charged state-owned Bulgarian Energy Holding, the owner of Bulgartransgaz, with breaching EU antitrust rules by hindering competitors' access to key gas infrastructure in Bulgaria.
Bulgarian Watchdog Raids More Oil Firms
Bulgaria's competition regulator said on Tuesday it had raided the offices of fuel retailers Petrol and Nis Petrol, which is controlled by Russia's Gazprom Neft, as part of its investigation into possible cartel agreements. Bulgarians complain of high fuel costs despite a plunge in global oil prices and Prime Minister Boiko Borisov has called for the competition authority to speed up its investigation. The Commission for Protection of…
Bulgaria, Shell Ink Deepwater Oil & Gas Deal
Bulgaria sealed a deal with Royal Dutch Shell on Tuesday to explore for oil and gas in an offshore block in the Black Sea in a bid to end its almost total dependence on Russian natural gas. Shell won a tender for a five-year permit for deepwater exploration at the 1-14 Silistar block that covers 7,000 square km in September and pledged to invest 18.6 million euros ($20.5 million) in seismic surveys. "The licence that we have been awarded today allows us to evaluate the potential for oil and gas in offshore Bulgaria.
Total Set for 2016 Bulgaria Offshore Drilling
French oil firm Total said on Monday it was on track to start drilling for oil and gas at an exploration site off Bulgaria's Black Sea coast early next year. Total, an operator of the offshore Han Asparuh 1-21 block along with OMV and Spain's Repsol, had postponed drilling there due to the fall in oil prices. "We are currently under preparation and we expect to begin in early 2016," Xavier Faugeras, general manager of Total's Bulgaria division, told Reuters.
Bulgaria: Bring Back Nabucco Pipeline
Bulgaria wants the European Commission to revive plans for the Nabucco pipeline that would pump gas from the Caspian Sea, after a Russian project seen as a rival was scrapped, Prime Minister Boiko Borisov said on Wednesday. Keen to diversify its energy supplies due to the Ukraine crisis, Bulgaria meets more than 80 percent of its gas needs with imports from Russia. Sofia was caught off guard by President Vladimir Putin's surprise announcement…
EU Energy Chief Heads to Moscow to Discuss Energy Security
The European Commission backs Bulgaria's plans to build a gas hub to help it compensate for the loss of Russia's South Stream pipeline, and will raise the issue at talks in Moscow on energy security on Wednesday, the EU's energy boss said. Gazprom's announcement in December that it was scrapping the South Stream project to pump natural gas to the European Union was a particular blow to Bulgaria, which relies heavily on Russian gas. Bulgaria…
Merkel Urges Bulgaria to Seek New Talks on South Stream
German Chancellor Angela Merkel backed Bulgaria on Monday in its bid to seek new talks with Russia about the South Stream gas pipeline after Moscow shelved the project this month in favour of an alternative link via Turkey. The EU, at odds with Moscow over the Ukraine crisis and keen to reduce its energy reliance on Russia, had raised objections to the $40 billion South Stream pipeline, which was to run under the Black Sea and enter the EU via Bulgaria.
Bulgaria Seeks to Build Gas Hub for Europe
Bulgaria wants to build a gas storage and distribution facility which could help the Balkan country diversify supplies and become a regional hub following the suspension of the South Stream pipeline project. Last week, Russia scrapped the South Stream project to supply gas to southern Europe without crossing Ukraine, citing EU objections, and instead named Turkey as its preferred partner for an alternative pipeline. Russian President…
EU's Juncker: South Stream Pipeline Can Still Be Built
The South Stream gas pipeline can go ahead even though Russia said it had scrapped the $40 billion project to pump gas to the European Union, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said on Thursday. Russia announced at the start of the week that it had abandoned its South Stream pipeline, which would have bypassed Ukraine, the traditional transit route for Russian gas. It cited EU legal obstacles as a reason. Some EU nations…
Bulgaria Opposition Would Cancel Stroytransgaz Contract
Bulgaria's main opposition party would cancel a contract awarded to a consortium led by Stroytransgaz, a company owned by sanctions hit businessman Gennady Timchenko, to build the Bulgarian section of the Russian-led South Stream gas pipeline. The construction of the pipeline has thrust Bulgaria into the centre of a diplomatic row between the European Union and Russia, and Bulgaria has suspended work on its portion of the project until it gets permission from Brussels. "The contract will be cancelled.
