site.btaBulgaria to Sign Gas Prospecting Contract with Shell within Weeks

Within the next two to three weeks we will sign a contract with Shell for prospecting and exploration in the Khan Tervel block in the Black Sea, after winning the tender, said Energy Minister Zhecho Stankov on Nova News.
 
Stankov said that this is the world’s fourth largest energy company that will be exploring this block and added that he expects good results. The exploration of gas fields in the Black Sea is one of the important projects on which the government has focused, Minister Stankov said.

Stankov said that a few days ago the Israeli company NewMed joined OMV Petrom on the territory of the Khan Asparuh block, which is the largest block in the Black Sea in the Bulgarian offshore area (where exploration for natural gas and oil is still underway - ed.), "where both companies have 50-50 rights to continue exploration and prospecting."

Asked about payments under a contract with Turkish company Botas, Stankov said that Bulgarian has suspended payments because Bulgargaz does not have the finances to continue doing so. “We have not paid in almost 9 months, we do not have the financial capacity to pay,” Stankov said. He added that he has already met with Turkish Ambassador here and he has also requested a meeting with Turkish energy minister and expects to meet him in early April.

Asked whether this could lead to Bulgargaz' decapitalization or bankruptcy, Stankov said that Bulgaria always stands fully behind the energy companies. “These are business relations that should be cleared up quickly so that it is clear that this in no way harms either side. I am sure that colleagues from the Turkish side will see possibilities in which we can renegotiate these contracts,” Minister Stankov said.

The Minister also said that in the energy sector funds are being directed specifically to projects such as the construction of units 7 and 8 at Kozloduy NPP, and the Vertical Gas Corridor, which will keep Bulgaria on the map as a natural gas transporter. The construction of new infrastructure projects, such as the infrastructure of the Electricity System Operator, new pumped storage hydropower facilities, which will turn Bulgaria into a huge green battery of the Balkans, "These are all things that we need funds for. These funds were drained first from the energy sector, totalling BGN 5.4 billion. It is normal for the state, as a good steward to direct funds to exactly these types of projects," Stankov said.