site.btaBulgaria's Proposal to Join Black Sea Natural Gas Exploration to be Submitted to Parliamentary Energy Committee This Week

This week the Parliamentary Committee on Energy will table Bulgaria's proposal to join as a third partner in the consortium that will search for gas in Block 1-21 Khan Asparuh in the Black Sea, Committee Chairman and GERB-UDF MP Delyan Dobrev told BTA on Tuesday. He pointed out that the funds needed for the next drilling are about EUR 100 million, with Bulgarian Energy Holding (BEH) able to contribute 20%, or EUR 20 million. He said the objective was for the proposal to be considered in the coming week. 

According to Dobrev, the sooner this proposal is made, the earlier the exploratory drilling will be done to prove the availability of natural gas in the Block and the final investment decision will be made to exploit these resources.

If Bulgaria does not participate as a shareholder, it will not share the profits, but will only receive a concessional remuneration of up to 30% of the turnover in the case of oil and natural gas. Dobrev explained that the concessional remuneration in the first years is less until companies' revenue surpasses their investment.