Bulgaria plans to call further tenders for exploration of shale gas in the country, Economy Minister Traicho Traikov said on July 19 on the sidelines of a forum on alternative gas extraction. "There wil be tenders for exploration of new fields in northern Bulgaria," Traikov said, highlighting that the procedure for launching exploration work near the town of Novi Pazar, which was recently won by US oil and gas group Chevron, complied with the international standards.
Signing the contract with Chevron is "a matter of days," Traikov said, as quoted by Bulgarian news agency BTA. The minister said that the process of exploration for shale gas was no different than any other drilling procedure. The forum was attended by Environment Minister Nona Karadjova, who was positive that "all rules and procedures for exploration and extraction of natural resources will be applied in this case."