site.bta Natural Gas Price to Fall in January by Somewhat Wider Margin than the Proposed 2.1%

Natural Gas Price to Fall in January by Somewhat Wider Margin than the Proposed 2.1%

Sofia, December 15 (BTA) - The quarterly price of natural gas in Bulgaria will fall at the beginning of 2016 by a somewhat wider margin than the 2.1 per cent proposed by state-owned distributor Bulgargaz, Energy and Water Regulatory Commission (EWRC) Chairman Ivan Ivanov predicted in remarks to journalists on Tuesday. "I suppose the fall can be a little larger, because our experts take into account all price-forming components," Ivanov said.

The final calculations of the EWRC experts will be publicized on Thursday, he said. He noted that the fall cannot be very significant because the considerable decrease of international crude oil prices came mostly after December 1, but the projection is based on data from the preceding three months, Ivanov explained. The depreciation of Brent crude oil to 37 US dollars per barrel on Tuesday morning will have a strong impact on the alternative fuels forming the price of natural gas. This means that the gas price will perhaps fall further in the second quarter of 2016, though not much, he predicted.

In the fourth quarter of 2015, the price of natural gas in Bulgaria went down by 14.26 per cent compared with the previous quarter.