site.btaEnergy Minister Shtonov: "Natural Gas Deliveries from Russia Down in Recent Days, Shortfall Drawn from Chiren"

117 ECONOMY - GAS SUPPLY - COMMENTS - amplified

Energy Minister Shtonov:
"Natural Gas Deliveries from Russia Down in Recent Days,
Shortfall Drawn from Chiren"


Sofia, October 29 (BTA) - "Deliveries of natural gas from Russia
have been decreased in recent days and we are drawing the
necessary quantities from the storage in Chiren," Bulgarian
Economy and Energy Minister said after the Cabinet meeting on
Wednesday.

"The pressure in the gas pipeline in Bulgaria should be 38 bar
but has been fluctuating between 30 and 35 bar in the last
couple of days," Shtonov said. "Bulgaria does not receive the
deliveries it has ordered," he emphasized. "The average daily
consumption of natural gas in winter is some 10-11 million cu m.
It now stands at 7-8 million cu m. On Tuesday, the consumption
was 7.6 million cu m. Between 1 and 2 million cu m daily are
drawn from Chiren now."

"These are normal fluctuations," Shtonov pointed out. "They are
caused by temporary technical problems in Russia which are
expected to be solved soon. At the border between Russia and
Ukraine, however, there are no metering devices, and this may
lead to a dispute between the two countries. We are unable to
confirm exactly where the problem is," he added. "For the time
being, these fluctuations in the deliveries are expected to
continue for at least a week, and until then reserves from
Chiren will be tapped. The maximum daily capacity of Chiren is
4.1 million cu m. If this quantity is exceeded, the district
heating companies will have to switch to fuel oil. The chances
of this happening, however, are very, very slim," the Minister
pointed out.

"Chiren can hold 483 million cu m. In January, which is the
coldest winter month, the average daily consumption is 10-11
million tonnes, and on very cold days, as was the case on
January 9, 2014, it can reach 15-17 million cu m. Some 2 million
tonnes are expected to be pumped out of Chiren on Wednesday,"
Shtonov said.

"The delivery of natural gas to Bulgaria is not reduced, nor a
warning has been issued of a possible decrease of supplies,"
Bulgartransgaz Executive Director Kiril Temelkov told
journalists here on Wednesday.

He said that pressure in the country's gas transmission system
depends on a number of factors and its lowering may have been
caused by the simultaneous tapping of the network by more users.

Temelkov was among the participants in the 5th Regional Energy
Conference "Regional Energy Development and Energy Security",
organized by the Bulgarian Energy Forum.

"Bulgaria still faces the risk of a crisis in the event of a
suspension of gas deliveries from Russia," another participant
in the conference, energy expert Hristo Kazandjiev of the
Bulgarian Energy and Mining Forum, told BTA. "What happened in
2009 showed that Bulgaria should always be prepared to respond
when gas deliveries stop. Unfortunately, several successive
governments since then have done absolutely nothing, and this is
exceedingly alarming," he commented.

Kazandjiev recalled that in November 2008 Scottish company
Melrose Resources, which was awarded a concession for the Galata
gas field, approached the State with a proposal for
transformation of the concession and for conversion of the gas
field into a gas storage. This would have given Bulgaria a
second gas storage and more adequate gas reserves. Since the
State has not taken any steps, extraction from Galata continues
and if it is fully depleted, it will be impossible to turn it
into a storage, the expert explained. He insists that the future
government should immediately start negotiations with the
concessionaire so that this opportunity would not be missed.

The estimated cost of converting Galata into gas storage was 60
million euro, and the investments and the commercial risks were
to be entirely borne by the concessionaire, under the terms of
the project that has not been implemented so far, Kazandjiev
said. He argued that if this project is launched, it should be
done as a private investment and the State should not assume any
commitment to utilize its capacity. The storage could take
Azerbaijani gas coming via Georgia, the expert assumes.