August 3 (SeeNews) - Bulgarian public gas supplier Bulgargaz said it is requesting that the energy regulator approve a definitive increase in the wholesale natural gas price applicable for August to 297.89 levs ($155.13/152.30 euro) per MWh.
By comparison, prices of gas for August delivery on the European spot markets exceed 171 euro per MWh, Bulgargaz said in a statement on Monday.
Last week, Bulgargaz proposed to the energy regulator to approve a price of 286.84 levs per MWh applicable for August.
The definitive proposal represents a 60% increase on the price of natural gas for July, which was 186.17 levs per MWh after the energy regulator endorsed a 31.7% month-on-month increase.
The price which Bulgargaz proposes for August takes into consideration additional costs for the transport of Azeri gas via Greece and the capacity tariff of the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), the company said earlier. Last month, Bulgaria and Greece completed the construction of a 220 million euro ($223.1 million) gas link with an annual capacity of 3 billion cubic metres. The pipeline is connected to TAP, allowing for additional quantities of gas from Azerbaijan that arrive in Greek ports to flow to Italy and the wider Southeast Europe (SEE) region.
At the start of each month, Bulgaria's Energy and Water Regulatory Commission makes a final decision on the proposed change in the wholesale price at which Bulgargaz sells natural gas to end-suppliers and customers directly connected to its transmission network.
(1 euro = 1.95583 levs)
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