US-based Linden Energy announced that it has booked, through Bulgarian gas supplier Overgas, 10 % capacity of newly commissioned Greece- Bulgaria gas interconnection (so-called IGB pipeline) for a period of 20 years.
Linden Energy President Stephen Payne said that the IGB pipeline is crucial for the diversification of gas markets in Bulgaria and the entire region. The pipeline will be the focus of Overgas’ operations along with the Revythoussa liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in Greece.
In August, the Bulgarian Commission for the Protection of Competition (CPC) approved the acquisition of 50 % stake in local gas supplier Overgas by Linden Energy. The 50 % stake was previously owned by Russian Gazprom and was bought back by Overgas in December 2020 when Gazprom approved the disposal of its 50 % direct and indirect interest in the company for 15.5 million euros.
In July, US Excelerate Energy and Overgas have agreed to explore the possibility of LNG purchases from the future terminal in Vlora, Albania. The signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) envisages that Overgas will seek a ten-year contract to buy up to one billion cubic meters of regasified LNG per year from Excelerate Energy via the Vlora LNG terminal, which the US company is planning to develop with Albanian state-owned natural gas supplier Albgaz and US giant ExxonMobil. The gas would be carried over the proposed Vlora-Fier gas pipeline to the Trans- Adriatic (TAP) pipeline. The newly commissioned gas interconnection between Greece and Bulgaria will enable transport of this gas to Bulgaria.
Previously Overgas and Albgaz have signed a MoU on cooperation on the diversification of natural gas sources in the Balkans, with the goal of reducing the countries’ dependence on Russian energy imports.
