Bulgaria seeks to revive trans-Balkan pipeline project to secure non-Russian oil

Bulgaria is looking to revive a trans-Balkan oil pipeline project to secure non-Russian crude oil supplies for its only oil refinery on the Black Sea, controlled by Russia's Lukoil, President Rumen Radev said on Tuesday.

Sofia is holding talks with Greece to build a 300-km oil pipeline to transport crude oil from the Greek port of Alexandroupoli on the Aegean Sea to Bulgaria's Black Sea port of Burgas, Radev said.

Bulgaria has won a two-year exemption from a European Union ban on Russian crude imports, imposed over the invasion of Ukraine.

However, the country needs to secure enough non-Russian crude to keep operations running at the 196,000 barrels per day Black Sea refinery after the exemption on Russian crude ends in 2024, government officials say. The refinery provides over 75% of the fuels for the local market.

In 2011, Bulgaria abandoned the oil...