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IGB capacity can be expanded if necessary (exclusive)

Oil&Gas Materials 23 February 2017 12:31 (UTC +04:00)

Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb.23

By Leman Zeynalova – Trend:

The capacity of Interconnector Greece – Bulgaria (IGB) can exceed 5 billion cubic meters if needed, Teodora Georgieva, executive officer at ICGB AD joint venture company, said in an exclusive interview with Trend.

The executive officer said that currently, its total capacity is 3 billion cubic meters per year, but if there is interest, it can be enlarged to 5 billion cubic meters per year and more.

The IGB project already has external shippers different from the shareholders and this really shows that there is interest in the project, said Georgieva.

“We already have 1.570 billion cubic meters of the IGB capacity booked for the long term, which is very satisfactory,” she added.

Further, the executive officer pointed out that IGB is a very mature project.

“We already have the Environmental Impact Assessment for the two parts of the project and the technical design already approved in Bulgaria,” she said. “Currently, the aim is to have a construction permit for which we should finalize all the procedures for the acquisition of property rights. That is what we did last year. So we are very close to getting the construction permit which is expected by mid of this year.”

Currently, Engineering Procurement and Construction (EPC) package is under development as part of the implementation of the IGB project, she said, adding that it is also planned to start the procedures for EPC this year.

“In order to fit to what Azerbaijan promised to start the delivery of gas in 2020, we should definitely start the construction in 2018,” said the executive officer.

The main difference of the IGB project is that its commercial viability also requires to be verified, according to Georgieva.

IGB is a gas pipeline, which will allow Bulgaria to receive Azerbaijani gas, in particular, the gas produced from Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz 2 gas and condensate field. IGB is expected to be connected to the Trans Adriatic pipeline via which gas from the Shah Deniz field will be delivered to the European markets.

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Follow the author on Twitter: @Lyaman_Zeyn

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