Natural gas

Bulgarian-Russian company Overgas has denied receiving a letter from Russian energy giant Gazprom calling on it to prepared for a halt in supplies from January 1.

A statement on the company's website [BG] reads that the gas supply contract with Gazprom is in force until 2017, and Overgas abides by all of its commitments, with no overdue payment.

Bulgaria's Prime Minister Boyko Borisov has instructed state-owned Bulgargaz and Bulgartransgaz to prepare to supply natural gas to Overgas in case Russia's Gazprom Export halted deliveries to the Bulgarian-Russian joint stock company.

Turkey may produce around 2 billion kilowatt hours (kWh) of power from landfill gas (LFG) if all garbage is collected and used to generate power, according to experts. This volume is equal to 5 percent of the electricity that Turkey generates from Russian gas, but is enough to meet the electricity demand of 1 million households, according to sector representatives.  

The Energy and Water Regulatory Commission (KEVR) of Bulgaria has adopted a decision to cut price of natural gas for consumers.

State-owned gas supplier Bulgargaz earlier in December proposed the price should be slashed by 2.1%.

KEVR itself, however, believes the decrease should amount to 2.3%.

Bulgaria's Energy and Water Regulatory Commission (KEVR) will decide on Tuesday whether to decrease the price of natural gas by 2.3 %.

The proposal of KEVR is for a slightly higher reduction than the 2.1 % cut demanded by Bulgargaz, private bTV station informs.

Bulgargaz proposed on Thursday to cut natural gas price for consumers by 2.1% for the first quarter of next year.

A planned gas pipeline project to link Russia and Turkey, dubbed the "Turkish Stream," has been shelved by Turkey because its demands were not met, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an said on Dec. 5.

The latest diplomatic crisis with Russia, which started when a Russian airplane was downed by Turkey on Nov. 24, has exposed many significant points about the fragility of the situation in the region. One of the most crucial points that this crisis has shown is Turkey's urgent need to diversify its energy sources. 

Turkey has agreed with Azerbaijan to accelerate the Trans-Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP), with an aim to have the gas project completed before the planned 2018, Prime Minister Ahmet Davuto?lu said on Dec. 3, as quoted by Reuters.

Turkey has been exploring new energy alternatives amid the ongoing diplomatic crisis with Russia, although officials continue to view any potential gas blockage by Russia as unlikely. In this vein, Turkey's gas grid BOTA?