BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan. 28
By Leman Zeynalova – Trend:
Bulgaria hopes to diversify 50 percent of its gas consumption with Azerbaijani gas to be delivered via the Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria (IGB) and liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the US, Trend reports citing Bulgarian Energy Minister Temenuzhka Petkova.
The minister made the remarks during a meeting with US Under Secretary of Energy Mark W. Menezes, Assistant Secretary of State for Energy Resources Francis Fannon and other officials.
She noted that Bulgaria will continue to work towards diversifying the sources and routes of natural gas supply.
“Fifty percent of Bulgaria’s natural gas consumption will be diversified by the end of this year, since half of 3 billion cubic meters of gas consumption in Bulgaria will be provided by Azerbaijani gas and US LNG,” added the minister.
Petkova highlighted the progress in the implementation of key infrastructure projects for Bulgaria, including the construction of the Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria (IGB).
"It is strategically important to keep Bulgaria's key role in Europe's gas map,” she said.
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 TAP via which gas from the Shah Deniz field will be delivered to the European markets.
The Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria project envisages a two-stage development.
In the first stage, the pipeline capacity will be 3 billion cubic meters of gas, of which 2.7 billion cubic meters will be offered for the long-term market, the remaining share of 0.3 billion cubic meters in the short term.
In a second phase, also depending on the evolution of the market, the capacity of the pipeline can be increased to 5.3 billion cubic meters of gas thanks to the addition of a compression station: 4.5 billion cubic meters of gas 0.5 billion cubic meters of short-term gas will be offered for long-term products.
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