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Azerbaijani gas to be delivered to Bulgaria via capacity link temporarily

01 February 2021 13:47 (UTC +04:00)

Bulgaria is set to receive close to 225 million cubic metres (mcm) of Azeri natural gas by the end September, said state supplier Bulgargaz, APA-Economics reports quoting ICIS.

The gas will flow via the existing 3.68 billion cubic metre (bcm) capacity link at the Kula-Sidirokastro Greek border point, due to delays in the 3bcm/year Bulgaria-Greece Interconnector (IGB), “The transportation of Azeri gas on this route is temporary, for a period of nine months until the end of gas year 2020.

The quantities that will be delivered for this period are approximately 225mcm and are in line with the technical capabilities of the Greek gas transmission network,” added Bulgargaz spokesman. The IGB link is expected to commence operations in October 2021. The Azeri gas will continue along this route in the agreed volume, added the state supplier.

Bulgaria reserved 1bcm of capacity per year based on a 25-contract between Bulgargaz and the Azerbaijan state oil and gas company SOCAR. It is not clear whether Bulgargaz will receive the whole 1bcm volume by the end of the year. The state supplier did not comment whether it has negotiated a change in the contract for this year’s volume with SOCAR. The 10bcm/per year Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) delivered the first Azeri gas to Bulgaria and Greece at the end of 2020, the pipeline operator said on 31 December. TAP is expected to increase gas exports to southeast Europe and diversify its supply portfolio.