BULGARIA TO FORM NATURAL GAS SUPPLIES JV WITH AZERBAIJAN

Baku, 12 November (AzerTAc). Bulgaria’s state-owned gas operator Bulgartransgaz, a subsidiary of Bulgargaz, and the Azerbaijan state gas company, SOCAR, are going to set up a joint venture, according to Bulgaria’s Minister of Economy, Energy and Tourism, Traicho Traikov.
The Bulgaria-Azerbaijan joint company is going to explore the possibilities for the delivery of natural gas from Azerbaijan to Bulgaria, including as both finding supplies for the quota of natural gas that Bulgaria will be entitled to receive through the Nabucco gas transit pipeline, and for the transit of compressed natural gas with tankers through the Black Sea.
“If the project is realized, Bulgaria will not have to participate in the construction of a liquefied natural gas terminal.”
“Tankers for the transport of compressed gas cost more money but use cheaper infrastructure because they do not require the construction of a special terminal for the unloading of the fuel, which can be directly delivered to the country’s gas network or to be stored in a storage facility,” Minister Traikov said.
The new Bulgarian-Azerbaijan memorandum is going to build upon the one signed in June 2008 in Baku for starting talks between Bulgargaz and SOCAR for the supply to Bulgaria of 1 billion cubic meters of Azerbaijani natural gas.
According to Traikov, if the joint venture for transporting compressed natural gas from Azerbaijan to Bulgaria with tankers is successful, the quantity could be increased up to 7-8 billion cubic meters including supplies to be transited through Bulgaria for third parties.
This idea corresponds with the plan put forth by Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov during his recent visit to South Korea where he suggested that Hyundai should cooperate with Bulgarian shipbuilders in the construction of tankers for transporting natural gas across the Black Sea.