Bulgaria and Turkey will discuss options to strengthen gas transport capacity at the shared border between the two countries, Bloomberg reported. The move is likely to allow larger volumes of Russian gas to enter the Caspian region to reach Central Europe.
The two countries will hold an expert-level meeting to discuss the current agreements on 2.5 before seeking a political decision to expand border transit options.
The information was given by the Bulgarian Energy Ministry on April 5 after a meeting between the Bulgarian and Turkish energy ministers in Baku, Azerbaijan.
According to the announcement, Bulgarian Energy Minister Zhecho Stankov affirmed that Turkey "is our strategic partner in implementing priorities related to diversification and energy security".
Oil and gas exploration and exploitation activities in the Black Sea were also a topic of discussion between the two ministers. "Türkiye is interested in participating in the exploration of our batches in the Black Sea and we are pleased to have a highly qualified partner," added Bulgarian Minister Stankov.
Bulgaria is the only gas pipeline operating to transport Russian gas to Europe after Ukraine refused to extend a long-term transit contract with Russia's Gazprom at the end of last year.
The Bulgarian pipeline, which currently carries about 16 billion cubic meters of gas per year and is used at full capacity, is an extension of TurkStream - a gas pipeline in the Black Sea designed to avoid going through Ukraine, completed before the Russia-Ukraine conflict broke out in 2022.
Several European countries, including Hungary, Slovakia and Serbia, are still dependent on Russian gas. Since April, Slovakia has increased its imports of Russian gas via the TurkStream pipeline.
However, some countries are considering alternative gas sources from Azerbaijan because the conflict disrupts gas supplies.
Bulgaria can also access gas from Azerbaijan via Türkiye, as well as receive gas from other liquefied natural gas (LNG) port warehouses in Turkey under a deal with state oil and gas company Botas.
Under the current agreement with Turkey's state-owned energy company Botas, Bulgaria has access to Turkey's LNG and Azerbaijani gas warehouses supplied via Turkey. However, due to high market prices, Bulgargaz sees making the most of the Botas deal, including the take-or-pay clause (ie buyers pay a minimum amount to buy an un delivered product) as an economic challenge.
According to Turkey Today, upcoming expert-level talks between Bulgaria and Turkey are likely to mention renegotiating the terms of the agreement between Bulgaria and Botas. High prices and lack of flexibility in contracts affect Bulgaria's ability to make a profit from importing LNG through Türkiye.
Turkey has repeatedly offered readiness to increase gas supplies to Europe, including creating a gas mix with the country as some of its long-term contracts with Gazprom expire this year.
