UPDATE 1 - Bulgarian regulator okays 6.5% hike in Dec natgas price

Bulgaria will receive natural gas volumes from four different sources, including the entire contracted quantity of Caspian gas from Azerbaijan via the Greece-Bulgarian interconnector, the Energy and Water Regulatory Commission (EWRC) said in a press release. That quantity will cover 31.76 % of the country's consumption this month.

Public supplier Bulgargaz will also receive regasified liquefied natural gas (LNG) under contracts with two traders and will make use of quantities injected in the underground storage facility Chiren.

Despite the increase from 82.12 levs per MWh in November, the price is still lower than on the European TTF hub, the regulator noted. Dutch-based TTF gas prices are likely to ease in the coming months due to high EU gas storage fullness and alternative gas supply routes in Europe. This will have a favourable effect in the regulator's pricing decisions in the upcoming months, it noted.

Bulgaria, which uses some 3 billion cubic metres (bcm) of natural gas per year, will receive an additional 1 bcm of regasified LNG thanks to Bulgartransgaz' 20% shareholding in the Alexandroupolis floating terminal in Greece, which is set to become operational in early 2024.

(1 euro = 1.95583 levs)