site.btaBulgartransgaz Signs MoU on Gas Quality with 9 Gas Transmission Operators

National gas transmission and storage operator Bulgartransgaz and the gas transmission system operators DESFA (Greece), FGSZ (Hungary), Gas TSO of Ukraine, ICGB AD (Bulgaria and Greece), Nomagas (North Macedonia), PLINACRO (Croatia), PLINOVODI (Slovenia), Transgaz (Romania) and Vestmoldtransgaz (Moldova) signed a Memorandum of Understanding to harmonize gas quality requirements, Bulgartransgaz said in a press release on Tuesday. The document was signed in the Hungarian capital Budapest on the sidelines of a ministerial meeting under the Central and South-Eastern Europe Energy Connectivity (CESEC) initiative. The Bulgarian gas transmission operator is among the initiators of the proposal to harmonize gas quality requirements at interconnection points in the CESEC countries.

The introduction of harmonized requirements will improve integration, liquidity and competition in the markets of Central and South-Eastern Europe and support the countries' objectives of diversification and securing gas supplies from a variety of reliable sources, including LNG. The harmonization of gas quality requirements in the region is also in synergy with plans to expand gas transmission infrastructure, including projects that are part of the Vertical Gas Corridor initiative.

The signing of the Memorandum is a step forward in the ambition of the gas operators to further improve the conditions for free cross-border transport of natural gas, the release says.