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01.09.2011
The Bulgarian government is extremely enthusiastic about the prospects of shale gas for Bulgaria. Energy Minister Traycho Traykov has even said that 1 trillion (1,000 billion) cubic metres of gas could be found in Bulgaria, which would cover the country’s consumption for 300 years.
The government claims that shale gas production would improve diversification of supply and could bring various economic benefits: domestic gas supply at reasonable prices, revenue from royalties and taxes, increased employment, investments in infrastructure and improved geological knowledge.
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Ultimately the government will have to decide, with the active participation of society, which options to pursue: conventional energy diversification policies or unconventional gas exploration and production. Poland is now cited as a model for shale gas exploration, but the case of Bulgaria is somewhat different for several reasons. First, the political bias against Russia is not so strong in Bulgaria. Energy cooperation with Russia has been a fact of life and most probably will be for a long time to come. Secondly, the geographical position of Bulgaria is better in terms of energy routes – the country is on the path of both Nabucco and South Stream, with prospects for several interconnectors connecting it to other sources as well. Bulgaria also has the possibility to use more renewable sources for electricity and heat production and increase its energy efficiency potential. Thus, diversifying energy supplies by banking on shale gas may not be the most logical route to take.
The full-text version of this article is available on the European Energy Review website after a free email-based registration.
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