SOCAR may have started gas shipments to Bulgaria via the Trans-Balkan pipeline - media
BAKU. Sept 7 (Interfax) - SOCAR, the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan, may have started shipping gas to Bulgaria via the Trans-Balkan gas pipeline, used in reverse mode, the Bulgarian publication Capital said.
"The Trans-Balkan gas pipeline, through which Bulgaria transported Russian gas to Turkey until 2020, is back in operation. However, now flows are going in the opposite direction from Turkey to Bulgaria. There is no official information as to what gas is being shipped to the country from there, who is shipping it, or where it is being sold. However, the volumes are impressive; about 30% of the average daily consumption of the Bulgarian market," the newspaper said.
It can be assumed that the shipments via the Trans-Balkan gas pipeline to Bulgaria are being sent by SOCAR, Capital said.
"Starting September 1, SOCAR actually entered the Bulgarian market using the Turkish gas network and the Trans-Balkan gas pipeline. Capital's sources confirmed that SOCAR is going to supply Bulgaria with 1 bcm of gas per year, or about 30% of its domestic consumption, that is, the same amount Bulgaria already receives [from the Shah Deniz field] under a contract with Azerbaijan Gas Supply Company (AGSC). SOCAR is about to become a major player in the Bulgarian market, taking a third of the business from state company Bulgargaz," the newspaper says.
Capital also cites data from the European platform of gas transport operators ENTSO-G dated September 3, when gas volumes shipped through the Trans-Balkan gas pipeline totaled 2.6 mcm per day. In addition, Bulgargaz continues to purchase 2.75 mcm of gas from AGSC, which is shipped to Bulgaria via the Greece-Bulgaria Interconnector.
"For comparison, Bulgaria consumes an average of 80,000 MWh (7.5 mcm) of gas per day. This means that currently almost two-thirds of Bulgaria's domestic consumption is probably met by Azerbaijani gas [SOCAR and AGSC]. The remainder comes from other traders and mostly comes via Greece in the form of liquefied natural gas."
The Trans-Balkan gas pipeline is a main gas pipeline passing through the territory of Ukraine, Moldova, Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey with branches to Greece and North Macedonia. It was previously used to ship gas from Russia to Turkey through the Balkan countries.
Bulgaria has reserved 1 bcm per year from Stage 2 of the development of the Azerbaijani Shah Deniz field on the basis of a 25-year contract between Bulgargaz and SOCAR. The country expects to receive additional volumes of gas from Azerbaijan of about 0.5-1 bcm per year.