Azernews.Az

Bulgaria’s state-owned gas operator Bulgartransgaz, a subsidiary of Bulgargaz, and the Azerbaijan state energy firm SOCAR intend to set up a joint venture, Bulgarian Minister of Economy, Energy and Tourism, Traicho Traikov, was quoted by Sofia News Agency as saying.
Traikov was authorized by the Council of Ministers Wednesday to sign a cooperation memorandum for the setting up of the joint venture with the Azerbaijan’s Energy Minister, who is to be part of the delegation led by the Azerbaijani President visiting Sofia on Friday.
The Bulgaria-Azerbaijan company is going to explore prospects for the delivery of natural gas from Azerbaijan to Bulgaria, including as both finding supplies for the quota that Bulgaria will be entitled to receive through the Nabucco gas transit pipeline, and for the transit of compressed 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. Following the January 2009 Russia-Ukraine gas crisis, the Bulgarian government considered pushing for the setting up of such a terminal in Greece or Turkey in a bid to diversify the country’s gas supplies.
"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," Minister Traikov said Wednesday.
According to him, the Galata gas deposit which is under the concession of the UK company Melrose Resources, could be used as a storage facility. The government has initiated talks on the matter with the concessionaire.
The new Bulgarian-Azerbaijan memorandum is 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 Azerbaijan gas.
The 2008 document says that Bulgaria will be receiving the above-mentioned volume of gas through the existing pipes, the future pipeline Nabucco, or other infrastructure.
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.*