Energy in Europe

Europe is heading into its coldest winter since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, with temperatures expected to stay below the levels seen in the past two years, according to the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts. This shift is likely to drive heating demand to its highest level since Russia's invasion, with further pressure on energy supplies.

The Turkish energy exchange Enerji Piyasaları İşletme A.Ş. (EPİAŞ) and the European Energy Exchange (EEX) have signed a memorandum of understanding to underline their joint commitment to developing the Emissions Trading System (ETS) in Türkiye.

Energy companies OMV Petrom and Romgaz on Wednesday backed plans to develop the Domino and Pelican Sud commercial natural gas fields in the Romanian Neptun Deep perimeter in the Black Sea.

The two companies will invest up to 4 billion euros for the development phase of the project, which will generate production of about 100 billion cubic meters of natural gas over ten years.

Turkish company Kalyon has signed an agreement to build more than a 300-kilometer-long pipeline in Romania that will transport natural gas from the Black Sea.

The size of the Tuzla-Podisor gas transmission pipeline project is around 500 million euros, according to a statement released by the Romanian national gas transmission company Transgaz.

A recently set up Greek-Bulgarian working group met in Athens last Friday to discuss reviving the Alexandroupoli-Burgas oil pipeline project.

The meeting was attended by Greek Environment and Energy Ministry Minister Kostas Skrekas and his Bulgarian counterpart Rossen Hristov, who agreed that the pipeline is of great geostrategic importance for both countries.

The European Commission today called on Bulgaria and 13 other EU countries to reduce air pollution. The others affected are Denmark, Ireland, Spain, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Hungary, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Romania and Sweden.

The recent announcement of a long-term energy agreement between Turkey and Bulgaria giving Bulgargaz access for 13 years to the regasification terminals of Turkey's state-run Botas pipeline company, thus offering assured quantities, came as a surprise to some and caused consternation in Athens.

The construction of an oil pipeline linking Alexandroupoli to Burgas in Bulgaria is back on the table, with the difference now that the new plans provide for the transport of oil from the south (Alexandroupoli) to the north (Burgas) and from there to the markets of the Balkans and Eastern Europe.

A worker works at the construction site of the Balkan Stream gas pipeline near the village of Kamenovo, Bulgaria, 01 June 2020. Photo: EPA-EFE/VASSIL DONEV

"This is inevitable and these negotiations will be hard," Hristov told local media, saying that Bulgaria will have no gas resources after September.

"Bulgargaz" EAD informs its customers that the estimated price of natural gas for October 2022 is BGN 269.29 per megawatt hour (without access, transmission, excise and VAT) or EUR 137.69 per MWh, calculated according to the fixing of the BNB.