Natural gas

''Bulgaria has opened negotiations with Azerbaijan on the supply of additional quantities of natural gas to be used by the future gas distribution hub near Varna'', said Deputy Energy Minister Zhecho Stankov, reported BNR.

The two countries currently have an agreement on the delivery of 1 billion cubic metres of gas as of 2020.

Greece's Energean said on Sunday it signed contracts to supply up to 23 billion cubic meters of natural gas to private Israeli power stations from the Tanin and Karish gas fields off the coast of Israel.

In a move aimed at increasing competition in the Israeli electricity sector, Greek developer Energean Oil & Gas has secured its first gas supply deals for Israel’s Karish and Tanin reservoirs.

Yanartaş, a naturally occurring fire that burns constantly in Çıralı in the southern province of Antalya's Kemer district, is connected with the natural gas beds in the eastern Mediterranean, scientists have discovered.

At the end of last week Russia's energy giant Gazprom started the actual construction of the Turkish Steam gas pipeline after Russian President Vladimir Putin gave green light to that project, quoted by BNR.

BP plans to complete by mid-2018 the Georgian section of a $40-billion strategic pipeline bringing Caspian gas from Azerbaijan into Europe, the British energy company's country manager for Georgia said.

"We could have Israeli gas in Turkey in the next three to four years," said Shaul Meridor, the Israeli Energy Ministry's director general, at the eighth annual Atlantic Council Istanbul Summit. 

One of the best three options to carry Israel's natural gas to Europe is the route from Turkey to Europe, which is possible within two to three years, the director general of the Israeli Energy Ministry said April 27.

Bulgaria may need more time to respond to concessions proposed by Russian gas giant Gazprom in an EU antitrust case, its energy minister says, adding that while Sofia see the concessions as positive it will like to see them expanded, Business Day writes, quoted by Focus News Agency.

According to preliminary data, in February 2017 the industrial production index of Bulgaria went up 3.7% compared to January 2017. In February 2017, an increase by 5.0% was reported compared to the same month in 2016. This is what data of the National Statistical Institute shows, quoted by Focus News.