January 25 (SeeNews) - Bulgarian state-owned gas transmission operator Bulgartransgaz said on Thursday that it signed an operational agreement with Turkish peer Botas for the interconnection between the two national gas transmission systems at the Strandzha-Malkoclar point.
The agreement sets the daily technical capacity at some 117.7 million kWh for gas transmission from Turkey to Bulgaria and 504.1 million kWh from Bulgaria to Turkey, Bulgartransgaz said in a statement.
The agreement is of key importance in diversifying natural gas sources for Bulgaria and the broader regional and European gas markets, Bulgartransgaz said. Through Turkey's gas transmission network, access is provided to natural gas from local fields, Azerbaijan, Iran and the global LNG market via Turkey's regasification terminals.
The interconnection agreement reinforces Bulgartransgaz's role in market integration and diversification and ensuring the security of natural gas supplies in the region and Europe, the company noted.
Bulgartransgaz, which operates a 3,380-km gas transmission network, has existing gas interconnections with all of Bulgaria's neighbouring countries. In December, Serbia completed the construction of its section of a gas link with Bulgaria after Bulgartransgaz and its peer Transportgas Serbia signed an agreement formalising the interconnection between the two national gas transmission systems at the Kalotina-Dimitrovgrad point.
Last January, Bulgarian public gas supplier Bulgargaz signed a 13-year agreement with Botas, enabling annual imports of 1.5 billion cubic meters of gas via the Turkish transmission infrastructure and LNG terminals.