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Regnum.ru: Bulgarian PM discusses diversification of gas supplies with US ambassador to Greece
Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov and US Ambassador to Greece Jeffrey Piett discussed diversification of natural gas sources and routes for Bulgaria and the region of Southeast Europe. He announced this on November 15 on his Facebook page. According to the Bulgarian PM, during the meeting it was noted that since the beginning of 2019 the country has purchased 396 million cubic meters of liquefied natural gas, including 182 million cubic meters produced in the United States. “We also discussed the participation of Bulgaria as a shareholder in a project to build a LNG terminal in Alexandroupolis, Greece. The Bulgarian side has decided to invest 20% of the capital in the company under the project, “said Boyko Borisov. It should be reminded that Bulgaria and Greece started construction of a gas pipeline in May 2019, which should unite the gas distribution systems of the two countries. The new pipeline is to become part of the so-called “vertical gas corridor” that will connect Greece, Bulgaria and Romania. In the future, it is envisaged that the “vertical gas corridor” will be linked to the “Southern Gas Corridor” - a project to expand the South Caucasus gas pipeline (Baku - Tbilisi - Erzurum). Last fall, a meeting between Bulgarian Energy Minister Temenuzhka Petkova and the US ambassador to Sofia discussed the possibility of delivering gas to the United States through Greece in the context of this project.
BA Comment
The Bulgarian Prime Minister’s claim does not rest on real facts. To date, the state-owned Bulgargaz Company has not concluded a direct import contract for US and any other liquefied natural gas.
So far, all the quantities received through Greece are either from DEPA (a mix in which LNG is involved), or under other contracts such as Colmar or through Greek Militineos. Again the cargo is not with US natural gas. The only US-originated natural gas was introduced into the country under another treaty in which Bulgargaz, by extension the government, is not involved.