Bulgaria backs SOCAR’s entering its oil products market
By Trend
Bulgaria supports entering of Azerbaijan’s state oil company
SOCAR its oil products market.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with Trend, Bulgaria’s
newly-appointed Energy Minister Nikolay Pavlov recalled that a few
years ago, SOCAR examined and discussed with the Bulgarian party
the opportunities to enter the market of petroleum products in the
country.
"We support the entry of new players in the petroleum product
market, because this will increase competition and will have a
beneficial impact on fuel prices and services provided," he
said.
The minister pointed out that Bulgaria greatly values the
partnership with Azerbaijan in the area of energy.
"A concrete expression of this partnership is the contract between
Bulgargaz and SOCAR for the supply of 1 billion cubic meters
natural gas per year as of 2020 from Shah Deniz 2. For us, this
supply is of priority importance, since it will cover around one
quarter of Bulgarian gas consumption to 2020," said Pavlov.
The minister expressed confidence that national gas companies on
both sides will also work to carry out joint gas supplies to
potential users in other countries of the Southeast European region
through the Bulgarian gas transmission network and the currently
built interconnectors.
"Another area of our energy cooperation could be SOCAR to enter in
the gas distribution in the country and in the market for petroleum
products too," said Pavlov.
Bulgaria is one of the buyers of Azerbaijani gas. The country will
receive gas from Azerbaijan from 2020. Bulgarian government plans
to buy 1 billion cubic meters of gas per year with the possibility
of increasing the volume in the future.
Currently, the talks on delivering Azerbaijani gas via the
Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria (IGB) continue. IGB is expected to
be connected to the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), which is a part
of the Southern Gas Corridor.
Bulgarian government presented a package of projects to Azerbaijan
in 2015 for energy cooperation. Azerbaijani side was proposed to
take part in the construction of a gas station, to invest in
construction of oil and gas storages and refineries.
---
Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz