The agreement that Turkiye signed with Bulgaria in the gas area will allow natural gas supplies not only to Bulgaria but also to other countries in the region through Bulgaria, Turkish Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Fatih Donmez said, as quoted by the Hurriyet daily.
On Tuesday, Bulgaria’s State-owned natural gas supplier Bulgargaz signed a 13-year agreement with Turkish energy company Botas that will allow the Bulgarian company access to Turkiye’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals and gas transmission network.
Donmez specified that the agreement with Bulgaria includes its gas transmission operator Bulgartransgaz. The Bulgarian company has not provided such information yet.
Donmez said that both Turkiye and Bulgaria are preparing their infrastructure to provide the corresponding services to each other. There will be 1.5 billion cubic metres of gas a year on average, meaning gas trade of nearly 20 billion cubic metres for 13 years.
In his words, Turkiye’s cooperation with Bulgaria in the energy sector is actually long-standing, because the first natural gas came to Turkiye along the route through Ukraine, Romania, and Bulgaria. This line [the Trans-Balkan pipeline], however, has not been operational for two years. Now the system will work in reverse, and Turkiye will be able to provide services to all European countries in this region, particularly to Bulgaria, the Energy Minister noted.
He is quoted as saying that Turkiye has a plan to create a gas trading hub. “We finished our physical infrastructure. This agreement is actually the first fruit of these efforts. Now, in conformity with these goals, there will be gas transmission from Bulgaria to other countries,” he also said.
Turkiye currently receives natural gas from 15 countries via several pipelines and LNG terminals.
On Wednesday, Donmez was in Skopje where he said memorandum on gas supplies could be signed with the Republic of North Macedonia. At present, that country’s only gas connection is with Bulgaria.
A gas conference will be held in Turkiye in February, Donmez also said.