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Tuesday, 02 December, 2008, 23:30 GMT | more >>

Bulgargaz and GdF unite



By Upstream staff 

Bulgaria's dominant state gas company Bulgargaz has signed a partnership agreement with France's Gaz de France, in a bid to reduce the country’s dependence from its main supplier, Russia’s Gazprom.

"The memorandum is about strategic partnership to develop the market and ensure security of natural gas supplies," Bulgargaz said in a statement, according to a Reuters report.

The company did not give any further details.

A Bulgargaz spokeswoman said the two companies planned to launch at least several joint projects to diversify gas supplies but it was too early to specify them.

The Bulgarian company said last year it was in talks with west European energy companies to explore possible partnerships for gas production and other energy projects abroad.

Earlier this year, Bulgargaz and four other companies that plan to build a European Union-backed gas pipeline chose German RWE over Gaz de France to become the sixth partner in the €7.9-billion ($12.5 billion) Nabucco project.

Nabucco aims at diversifying EU gas supplies away from Russia by bringing 30 billion cubic metres of Caspian or Middle Eastern gas annually from Turkey to an Austrian gas hub via Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary.


Thursday, 03 July, 2008, 11:41 GMT  | last updated: Thursday, 03 July, 2008, 11:52 GMT

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