site.btaBulgaria Seeks to Book 1 Bcm of LNG Capacity on Turkish Terminals

Bulgaria is negotiating to book 1 billion cu m of LNG capacity on Turkish terminals, including transiting capacity on the network of the Turkish gas company Botas to the Bulgarian border, caretaker Energy Minister Rosen Hristov told journalists on Friday. "This is very important because we no longer have a problem with tanker deliveries, but we have no place to unload them," he said.

Hristov said that the terminal in Revithoussa is too busy and it is very hard to reserve capacity. One solution is to reserve capacity on the Greek terminal in Alexandroupolis. One billion cu m of natural gas have been booked since 2024 but another 1 bcm are needed to secure deliveries for Bulgaria and this is possible only in Turkiye.

Bulgaria's annual consumption of natural gas is little over 3 billion cu m.

Deliveries for 2023 have already been secured by capacities in Revithoussa and at the end of 2023 capacities can be reserved in Turkiye for 2024, said Hristov.

Turkiye has said that the natural gas can be unloaded at any of the terminals in Turkiye, added Hristov.

Bulgargaz will conclude separate deals with LNG suppliers in order to secure non-Russian gas supplies, added Hristov.