Bulgaria has today managed to negotiate a slot for the unloading of one LNG tanker in Turkey and has accepted US producer Cheniere's offer for the delivery of one tanker in October. This was announced by the interim Minister of Energy Rosen Hristov. Bulgaria will not be able to accept the two tankers for November and December as it cannot secure slots for them at a good price. The terms for securing them will make the gas price uncompetitive.

Two-thirds of the gas for October was secured at a price that is competitive to the current market conditions. Negotiations for the remaining one-third, as well as for the November and December volumes, are underway. The focus is on the lowest possible supply prices.

We will negotiate with Azerbaijan to increase quantities, the minister said. Gas supply negotiations with Turkey are also ongoing. From then on, we are looking at medium-term supply contracts. Bulgaria will participate in the tenders for unloading capacity at the Revithoussa LNG terminal for 2023. Should slots be secured at a competitive price, then LNG tankers will also be contracted for the coming year. But the preference is for competitively priced natural gas deliveries by pipeline.

The binding offer is for seven tankers of LNG from USA  was agreed upon by the coalition government of Kiril Petkov, who announced the deal days before he handed over power, specifying that if the caretaker government found better offers, it could decline this one.

The deadline to confirm the deal is August 19. The caretaker government asked for an extension so it could find LNG unloading slots, but the US company refused to do so.