Natural gas

The Russian Gazprom given a set of proposals to the EU in order to solve the five year dispute on the pricing of natural gas.

"I can state unequivocally that there will be no change in the price of heating energy for the consumers of heating energy as of January 1, 2017," announced the chairman of the Energy and Water Regulatory Commission (KEVR) Ivan Ivanov, reported BGNES.

Bulgargaz expects a loss of BGN 34 M if the Energy and Water Regulatory Commission (KEVR) confirms the decision of the working group on the price of natural gas as of January 1, 2017, said the head of directorate Licensing Activity during an open meeting of the regulator.

Russia supplied nearly a third of Europe's gas needs in 2016, a record amount despite tensions with the European Union and a desire by the bloc to reduce its dependence on Russian supplies.

The latest issue of Gazprom's magazine Blue Fuel said "the share of Gazprom's gas in Europe grows steadily and has almost reached about 1/3rd in the European gas consumption."

The price of natural gas should be increased by 5% as of the beginning of next year.

This proposal of the energy regulator will be discussed on Tuesday at KEVR, reported BGNES.

The jump in oil prices over the last few months influenced the prices of natural gas which also went up.

Greece's Public Gas Corporation (DEPA) has asked its suppliers for increased quantities of liquefied natural gas in response to the growth in demand for the commodity in the local market and the reduction in the flow of gas from the country's northern borders.

Turkey's daily natural gas consumption has risen to more than 200 million cubic meters due to increased household demand stemming from cold weather and is thus outstripping supply, energy industry sources said Dec. 22.

Energy cooperation has been a major force driving Turkish-Israeli reconciliation.

Israel's Leviathan gas field, the country's largest natural gas reservoir, was discovered in 2010 and is believed to hold 621 billion cubic meters of gas.

If a deal is concluded, an estimated 10 billion cubic meters of gas will be exported to Turkey each year.

Turkish authorities decision to take over Akfel Holding, the largest private importer of Russian natural gas to Turkey, has left Russian giant Gazprom at a quandary, Sputnik has reported citing Kommersant newspaper. 

"We have been simply deprived of the most effective and profitable gas seller in Turkey," a source familiar with the matter said, as quoted by the Kommersant newspaper.

Bulgaria's energy watchdog KEVR has adopted a modest increase in gas prices as of January 01, 2017.

Starting from that date, the price per 1000 cubic meters should be BGN 280.21, or 5% higher than the current figure, the Energy and Water Regulatory Commission (KEVR) has proposed, according to StandartNews.