Bulgaria invites firms to search for oil, gas
© 2000 Reuters Limited
June 23, 2000
Story by Liliana Semerdjieva
SOFIA - Bulgaria, which lacks energy resources, is offering its Black Sea shelf for oil and gas exploration, a senior government official said yesterday.
Deputy Environment Minister Neno Dimov told Reuters in an interview that two blocks were currently offered.One of them, an offshore block of Black Sea acreage of 2,601 square kilometres (1,004 square miles), named Kaliakra 99, is located in the central part of the Black Sea shelf.
The other one is at the Rezovska river which flows into the Black Sea near the border with Turkey.
Exploration rights will be for three years and can be extended twice. If a firm makes a commercial discovery, it will be given concession rights on the well's production.
"Interest in exploring in Bulgaria has grown recently," Dimov said, adding that five foreign firms have expressed general interest in Bulgaria's shelf. He did not name them.
The government is not calling a formal tender but would choose among the applicants after negotiations, he said.
Bulgaria has been trying to attract foreign investors for oil and gas exploration since 1991 but only one find has been made - a gas field in the sea 20 miles southeast of the port of Varna in Block Three-Galata.
The field's commercial development was abandoned in 1997 because its gas volumes totalled only 1.5 billion cubic metres.
Dimov said that Bulgaria was trying to revive work on that field by setting up a joint venture in which Luxemburg-registered Petreco Sarl, a subsidiary of Scotland-based Melrose Resources plc, will hold 65 percent.
The remaining 35 percent will be owned by a firm representing the Bulgarian state but it has not yet been chosen.
Dimov also said Bulgaria has passed a new law on natural resources "with clear rules and transparent procedure" which allowed the ministry to offer better conditions for investors.
It included lower taxes due to be paid by firms exploring a block, changed block frontiers and other contract regulations.