Some 10 bn cu m of Azeri gas to pass annually through Bulgaria

“Some 10 bn cu m of natural gas will pass through Bulgaria to Europe, per annum, after the gas connections with Turkey and Greece are built,” announced yesterday, Minister of Economy, Energy and Tourism Traicho Traikov for BNR.

The natural gas will come from Azerbaijan, initiating the alternative gas supplies via the South Corridor.

“In October, Turkey and Azerbaijan agreed to supply some 16 bn cu m of gas, out of which 6 will remain in Turkey and the rest will continue to Europe through Bulgaria,” Traikov explained. The Minister said that the construction of the pipe between Stara Zagora and the Greek city of Komotini was in the final stage of planning and the drafting of the appropriate Environmental Impact Assessment was under way. The construction of the pipeline is expected to start next year and the first volumes of gas should flow at the end of 2013.

During his visit to Istanbul, Traicho Traikov agreed with his Turkish counterpart Taner Yildiz to sign a political agreement for the construction of a new gas pipeline, in order for our country to be able to receive gas from Turkey. The pipeline will have a capacity of between 1 -3 bn cu meters annually, with an option these quantities to double in the future.

“The facility will be 77 km long and the benefits for our country and the region will be huge,” said Traikov. The idea of the Bulgarian Government is for the gas conduit to be the beginning of the Nabucco project and 31 billion cubic meters of gas a year to be transited along the pipeline.

“We expect the Bulgarian-Turkish gas conduit, the interconnector with Greece and the liquefied natural gas terminals in the Aegean Sea to provide our country with cheaper fuel,” the Minister explained. According to him, the aim is none of the gas suppliers in Bulgaria to have more than a 50% share on the market of natural gas by 2020.

Agreements with Greece and Turkey for emergency imports of natural gas in winter in case supplies from Russia stop will be signed within a few days.

Traikov added that the gas depository near Chiren has enough stocks of fuel to ensure consumption in our country for two months.

In Turkey, Minister Traikov discussed the progress of the Nabucco project and of the new project of the consortium Shah Deniz for a gas pipeline, which will use the ring gas transmission system in Bulgaria through the interconnections with neighbouring countries.

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