Turkish Energy Minister Encourages Companies to Supply Gas to Bulgaria

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Turkish companies want to establish strong ties in Bulgaria's natural gas market. "The interested parties may contact the Energy Market Regulatory Authority for import licenses," Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz said after talks with his Bulgarian counterpart, Delyan Dobrev, in Ankara.

"We are ready to cooperate with the interested companies to export gas from Turkey," said Dobrev, the Bulgarian Energy and Economy Minister. Dobrev met with the representatives of private gas suppliers in Turkey. The talks revolved around the opportunities for exporting gas supplies to Bulgaria. "Bulgaria is also interested because we have made a decision to liberalize the gas market in the country," he said.

On March 20, Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and Bulgarian counterpart Boyko Borisov signed an agreement to connect natural gas networks. A pipeline running about 80 kilometers then could be used to transfer natural gas coming originally from Azerbaijan, via Turkey, to Bulgaria. The Bulgarian government is trying to reduce its energy dependence on Russia. The Russian state-owned company Gazprom (Moscow, Russia) already supplies about 40% of the European Union's (EU) gas needs, and it sees Turkey as vital for the future growth of its gas exports.

Turkey will be a critical junction in transporting Azeri gas to Europe. Azerbaijan plans to export about 16 billion cubic meters of gas from 2017, with 6 billion cubic meters designated for Turkey and 10 billion cubic meters for the EU. In the longer term, Turkey also could act as a transit route for gas flowing to Europe from Iraq, Turkmenistan and Iran.

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