July 7 (SeeNews) - The Bulgarian energy regulator said on Thursday that it will examine an application from Shell Energy Europe, the commodities trading arm of UK oil and gas major Shell, to receive a licence as a natural gas trader in Bulgaria.
Factor Energy Bulgaria and Cyprus-registered Ozbor Enterprises have also applied for similar licences, the Energy and Water Regulatory Commission (EWRC) said.
All three companies applied for ten-year gas trading licences, according to separate documents published on the EWRC website.
Netherlands-registered Shell Energy Europe applied for the licence in early March, planning to invest proceeds from potential operations in Bulgaria to establish a firm footprint and expand its headcount in the local sector. Shell's subsidiary booked revenue of some 7.2 million euro ($7.3 million) in 2020, as its net loss widened to 325,000 euro from 114,000 euro in 2019, the document showed.
Factor Energy Bulgaria, which lodged its application in early May, is owned directly and indirectly by individual investors from Bulgaria and Spain as well as Spanish power supplier Factor Energia.
Ozbor Enterprises, for its part, is indirectly owned by a private investor based in Serbia. Its total assets increased from 1,000 euro in 2019 to nearly 9 million euro in 2021.
The Bulgarian energy regulator is yet to approve the price of wholesale natural gas for July.
Public supplier Bulgargaz requested a 32% price increase to just over 186 levs per MWh, local news outlet Mediapool reported on Wednesday citing as statement to parliament by Bulgartransgaz CEO Lyudmil Yotsov.
($ = 0.9801 euro)