May 11 (SeeNews) - Bulgaria's utilities regulator said on Thursday that it granted a ten-year licence for trading in natural gas to Socar Trading Gas & Power, a Luxembourg-registered subsidiary of Azerbaijan's state-owned oil and gas company Socar
The company also received regulatory approval of its business plan for the 2023-2027 period, which involves the operation of two bi-directional physical and virtual gas flows, the Energy and Water Regulatory Commission (EWRC) said in a statement.
Socar Trading Gas & Power will deliver natural gas along the Germany-Eastern Europe corridor as well as between Bulgaria and Italy. It will also be able to purchase and store natural gas.
Socar opened an office in the Bulgarian capital Sofia last month.
The long-term licence is seen to provide the necessary framework for the company's participation of every segment of the wholesale market as well as for the development and maintenance of long-term and strategic projects.
The EWRC's decision follows an application tabled by Socar Trading Gas & Power in early April.
At the end of last month, Socar and the gas transmission system operators of Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and Slovakia agreed on working together to ensure the delivery of additional volumes of Azeri natural gas to the region and the European Union. The agreement aligns with a deal between the bloc and Azerbaijan to raise to 20 billion cubic meters (bcm) the supply of Caspian gas to the EU by 2027.
Azerbaijan delivers natural gas to Europe via the Southern Gas Corridor, which includes the Trans Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) to Turkey and the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) from Greece through Albania and the Adriatic Sea to Italy. Last year, Azerbaijan delivered 11.4 bcm of natural gas to Europe via TAP, according to data published by its energy ministry. Bulgaria currently receives 1 bcm of natural gas from Azerbaijan via the Greece-Bulgaria interconnector.
Socar intends to initially deliver 500 million cubic metres of gas to Bulgaria, increasing that amount to 1.5 bcm by 2027, Bulgarian news outlet Mediapool reported earlier.