According to US company Excelerate Energy, Bulgarian natural gas supplier Overgas has agreed to explore the possibility of liquefied natural gas (LNG) purchases from the future LNG terminal in Vlora, Albania.
According to the statement from the company, Excelerate Energy and Overgas have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) over the terms of the potential LNG purchase deal. The MoU envisages that Overgas will seek a ten-year contract to buy up to one billion cubic meters of regasified LNG per year from Excelerate Energy via the Vlora LNG terminal, which the US company is planning to develop with Albanian state-owned natural gas supplier Albgaz and US giant ExxonMobil. The gas would be carried over the proposed Vlora-Fier gas pipeline to the Trans- Adriatic (TAP) pipeline. The newly commissioned gas interconnection between Greece and Bulgaria will enable transport of this gas to Bulgaria.
Vice President of Excelerate Energy Oliver Simpson said that for many countries in Europe’s part of the Southern Gas Corridor, flexible access to LNG remains critical to ensuring their energy security. Integrated LNG projects like the Vlora terminal are a logical solution for meeting the urgent energy needs of Bulgaria and other Balkan and European countries linked to the Southern Gas Corridor.
The agreement between the two companies comes less than a week after Excelerate Energy signed another MoU with Albgaz and Italian Snam to explore the construction of a natural gas pipeline which would link the future Vlora LNG terminal to Albanian gas network.
In May, Overgas and Albgaz have signed a MoU on cooperation on the diversification of natural gas sources in the Balkans, with the goal of reducing the countries’ dependence on Russian energy imports.
Excelerate Energy has developed and operates 13 LNG terminals worldwide.
Last July, US company Linden Energy acquired 50 % stake in Overgas from Russian Gazprom.
