Azerbaijan Positions to be Main Gas Supplier to Bulgaria

Azerbaijan is setting the stage to supplant Russia and become the main supplier of Bulgaria's gas requirements.

Like many European nations dependent on Russian sources of energy, Bulgaria is seeking to diversifying routes and suppliers.

Under the project, Azeri gas would be transported via a pipeline to Georgia to be compressed and shipped by tankers to Bulgaria's Black Sea port of Varna, said Ivan Drenovichki, executive director of Bulgartansgaz.

The parties have agreed launch a feasibility study. “In September we are to take this decision."  "If all goes well and the project proves expedient, first deliveries can start at the end of 2013," he said.

Azerbaijan could provide up to 50 percent of the country's gas supplies. Bulgaria's gas consumption averages about four Bcm a year, Drenovichki commented.

Bulgaria  signed a memorandum of understanding for gas deliveries with Azerbaijan last November, saying some deliveries could be transported by the EU-backed Nabucco pipeline.

Source:  Trend News Agency