Direct Petroleum Bulgaria Gets 35-year Concession for Natgas Extraction
The Bulgarian government said it has awarded a 35-year concession contract for natural gas extraction to Sofia-based Direct Petroleum Bulgaria, a subsidiary of Texas-based TransAtlantic Petroleum, for an undisclosed fee.
Direct Petroleum Bulgaria will extract natural gas and condensate from the Borovan, Tarnak, Deventsi and Sadovets sections of the Koynare gas field in nortwestern Bulgaria, the government said in a statement on Wednesday.
The gas deposit is located in the municipalities of Vratsa, Borovan, Byala Slatina, Dolni Dabnik, Cherven Bryag and Knezha, which will together receive half of the concession fee divided in proportion to their territories falling within the field.
The extraction will begin in the second half of next year as the output will be sold to state-owned gas monopoly Bulgargaz at a price 35% lower than the one at which the country buys imported gas, state-run Bulgarian News Agency cited economy minister Delyan Dobrev as saying on Wednesday.
Dobrev also added that in the first few years only the output from the Deventsi section will meet at least another 10% of domestic gas consumption.