site.bta Drilling of New Well Begins at Chiren Gas Storage Facility

Drilling of New Well Begins at Chiren Gas Storage Facility

Chiren, Northwestern Bulgaria, October 20 (BTA) - The drilling of a new well began at the natural gas storage facility near Chiren on Tuesday as part of a project to expand its gas storage capacity. The process started in the presence of Energy Minister Temenouzhka Petkova and Bulgartransgaz Executive Director Georgi Gegov.

Ten more wells are to be made at Chiren in the coming years. By expanding the gas storage capacity of the underground facility and by upgrading its infrastructure, Bulgartransgaz will soon give Bulgaria one of the most advanced and well developed gas depots which meets the highest standards, Petkova said. Its storage capacity will increase from 550 million to 1 billion cubic metres and the maximum gas withdrawal rate will rise to more than 5 million cubic metres a day.

The successful implementation of these projects will help Bulgaria build an international gas distribution centre in its territory, Petkova said.

Some 430 million cubic metres of natural gas is being currently injected into the Chiren storage facility in order to be available for possible withdrawal and use during the winter. By the end of October, which is the end of the injection season, the facility will hold 460 million cubic metres of gas out of a maximum possible of 550 million cubic metres, Bulgartransgaz said.

In a few years, when some gas transit projects will have been implemented, Bulgaria will need at least one more gas storage facility, said Valeri Petrov of Bulgartransgaz. The Galata gas field in the Black Sea shelf is the most appropriate natural reservoir, but it still holds gas that needs to be extracted before the reservoir can be converted into a storage facility, Petrov said.