Last month, Bulgaria's utilities regulator approved a 31.7% monthly decrease in the wholesale price of natural gas for July to 186.17 levs ($95.41/95.18 euro) per MWh.
The price which Bulgargaz proposes for August takes into consideration additional costs for the transport of Azeri gas via Greece and the capacity tariff of the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), it said in a notice posted on the website of the energy regulator.
Earlier this month, Bulgaria and Greece completed the construction of a 220 million euro ($223.1 million) gas link with an annual capacity of 3 billion cubic metres. The pipeline is connected to TAP, allowing for additional quantities of gas from Azerbaijan that arrive in Greek ports to flow to Italy and the wider Southeast Europe (SEE) region. It will also enable the flow of liquefied natural gas to Bulgaria and SEE from Greece's Alexandroupolis LNG terminal, paving the way for potential future LNG imports from the US, Algeria, Qatar, Egypt and other suppliers. Azerbaijan’s state oil and gas company Socar has committed to supply to Bulgaria 1 bcm of natural gas per year via the link.
Bulgaria's Energy and Water Regulatory Commission rules at the end of each month on the proposed change in the wholesale price, at which Bulgargaz sells natural gas to end-suppliers and customers directly connected to its transmission network.
(SeeNews, July 27, 2022)