Shell and Bulgaria sign a contract for Black Sea oil and gas exploration

Shell signed with the Bulgarian government a contract on Tuesday that gives the oil giant the rights to explore a Black Sea field for oil and natural gas.

Shell will be able to explore 4,00 square metres of the Block 1-26 Khan Tervel Field.

Zhecho Stankov, Bulgaria's Minister of Energy said: "We are making a major step in identifying the potential of future gas supplies from the deep Black Sea."

Bulgaria, a member of the European Union, was totally dependent on Russian Gas until 2022. It has sought to diversify and find cheaper gas sources.

OMV Petrom, NewMed Energy and the Bulgarian Government signed a contract last month for the exploration of oil and gas in another field near the Black Sea.

Shell Executive Vice President of Exploration, Strategy and Portfolio, Eugene Okpere said, "Our first and foremost activity is to start safely operations in order to acquire the 3D seismographic we need to image subsurface to determine the gas potential."

He said: "We are confident that we can use our experience, our technology and expertise to unlock the offshore potential of the black sea in Bulgaria." (Reporting and editing by Susan Fenton; Ivana Sekularac, Stoyan Nennov)

(source: Reuters)