Shell to Explore Bulgarian Offshore Gas Field
(MENAFN- The Journal Of Turkish Weekly) Global energy giant Shell has gained rights to explore Bulgaria's Silistar offshore gas field for oil and natural gas over the next five years following Tuesday's signing of an agreement between the company and the government.
ShellExplorationand Production BV part of theRoyal Dutch ShellGroup is to invest €18.6 million in the gas field spread out over 6893 square kilometers in the Black Sea.
Before it can start exploration the company still has to obtain various permits and pay the Bulgarian state a bonus of €4.9 million not including VAT.
“We are taking an important step towards one of our main priorities in energetics – diversification of the sources of natural gas” said Energy Minister Temenuzhka Petkova who signed the exploration agreement with Eileen Wilkinson regional vice-president of Shell in the presence of the Prime Minister Boyko Borissov.
The minister said the future extraction of natural gas and the construction of gas interconnectors with Bulgaria’s neighbours will be important factors enabling Bulgaria to reduce its energy dependence on other countries.
Bulgaria is currently almost entirely dependent on Russia for gas and is struggling to diversify its energy supply.
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision to scrap the South Stream pipeline project late in 2014 was a major blow as Bulgaria was hoping to earn serious profits from transit taxes and foreign investment.
Bulgaria is not among the Central and Eastern European states that opposed Russia’s plans to double the capacity of its Nord Stream gas pipeline to Germany in October 2015.
Instead Borissov launched the idea of setting up a regional gas hub in Bulgaria called Balkan.
This will transport the country’s own gas Azeri gas brought through the Bulgarian interconnector IGB and the future Southern Gas Corridor SCG as well as Russian and Caspian Sea gas to Europe.
After years of delays in December 2015 Bulgaria and Greece signed the investment agreement to build the IGB which will have an initial annual capacity of 3 billion cubic metres. Construction is expected to start in October 2016.
Although Shell was cautious about giving a concrete forecast concerning the size of the Silistar gas field deposits Borissov on Tuesday said he was “convinced that the deposits are good and will bring the 'Balkan' hub great advantages in the future.
“After Total and Rapsol started exploration of the Khan Asparuh gas field and now that one of the world’s leaders in this field Shell is entering Silistar hardly a anyone will be able to suggest that Bulgaria is not actively working on oil and gas diversification” the Prime Minister said.
ShellExplorationand Production BV part of theRoyal Dutch ShellGroup is to invest €18.6 million in the gas field spread out over 6893 square kilometers in the Black Sea.
Before it can start exploration the company still has to obtain various permits and pay the Bulgarian state a bonus of €4.9 million not including VAT.
“We are taking an important step towards one of our main priorities in energetics – diversification of the sources of natural gas” said Energy Minister Temenuzhka Petkova who signed the exploration agreement with Eileen Wilkinson regional vice-president of Shell in the presence of the Prime Minister Boyko Borissov.
The minister said the future extraction of natural gas and the construction of gas interconnectors with Bulgaria’s neighbours will be important factors enabling Bulgaria to reduce its energy dependence on other countries.
Bulgaria is currently almost entirely dependent on Russia for gas and is struggling to diversify its energy supply.
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision to scrap the South Stream pipeline project late in 2014 was a major blow as Bulgaria was hoping to earn serious profits from transit taxes and foreign investment.
Bulgaria is not among the Central and Eastern European states that opposed Russia’s plans to double the capacity of its Nord Stream gas pipeline to Germany in October 2015.
Instead Borissov launched the idea of setting up a regional gas hub in Bulgaria called Balkan.
This will transport the country’s own gas Azeri gas brought through the Bulgarian interconnector IGB and the future Southern Gas Corridor SCG as well as Russian and Caspian Sea gas to Europe.
After years of delays in December 2015 Bulgaria and Greece signed the investment agreement to build the IGB which will have an initial annual capacity of 3 billion cubic metres. Construction is expected to start in October 2016.
Although Shell was cautious about giving a concrete forecast concerning the size of the Silistar gas field deposits Borissov on Tuesday said he was “convinced that the deposits are good and will bring the 'Balkan' hub great advantages in the future.
“After Total and Rapsol started exploration of the Khan Asparuh gas field and now that one of the world’s leaders in this field Shell is entering Silistar hardly a anyone will be able to suggest that Bulgaria is not actively working on oil and gas diversification” the Prime Minister said.
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