May 12 (SeeNews) - Bulgaria has secured two shipments of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the US for June at prices below those charged so far by Russia's Gazprom, which cut off gas deliveries to Bulgaria last month, prime minister Kiril Petkov said.
The country is negotiating a long-term LNG supply contract with the US at even lower prices, Petkov said upon return from a visit to the US, as seen in a video file published on the government's website.
The US LNG will be delivered via tankers and the shipments will be in addition to the ongoing deliveries of natural gas from Azerbaijan as well as deliveries from other countries that Bulgaria is currently negotiating, the prime minister added.
Gazprom halted natural gas supply to Bulgaria in late April, after the country refused to comply with Russia's demand to pay for the commodity in rubles, despite the current contract stipulating payments in US dollars.
"The contract for the supply of liquefied gas will be signed directly between the American supplier and Bulgargaz, so there will be no intermediaries. Our goal is to have the lowest prices, for Bulgarian business to be competitive, to achieve diversification and to ensure that our supplies will not be stopped unilaterally," Petkov noted.
On Wednesday, public natural gas supplier Bulgargaz forecast that the wholesale gas price in Bulgaria in July will amount to 142.11 levs ($75.82/72.66 euro) per MWh - 4.4% lower than the price for June it projected last month. The company is expected to make a request to Bulgaria's energy regulator to approve the wholesale price of gas for May on Friday.
(1 euro = 1.95583 levs)