Bulgarian state-owned gas supplier Bulgargaz has received an LNG cargo from Shell under an agreement covering 1 million MWh for the 2026–2027 heating season, strengthening Bulgaria’s winter supply position through the Alexandroupoli–Chiren corridor.
The cargo was unloaded at the Alexandroupoli LNG terminal in northern Greece, regasified and injected into the regional transmission network. The gas will be transported to Bulgaria and stored at the Chiren underground gas storage facility until required during the winter.
A volume of 1 million MWh is broadly equivalent to around 90–100 million cubic metres of natural gas, depending on calorific value. It is large enough to provide a material seasonal buffer but remains only one component of Bulgaria’s wider winter procurement and storage programme.
The transaction illustrates the commercial role Alexandroupoli is beginning to play in Southeast Europe. The terminal gives Bulgaria access to seaborne gas without relying exclusively on routes through Turkey or legacy Russian supply infrastructure. It also supports deliveries into neighbouring markets through the increasingly interconnected Greek and Bulgarian transmission systems.
Storage at Chiren turns the cargo into a seasonal risk-management instrument. Instead of consuming the gas immediately during the summer, Bulgargaz can retain it for periods of higher winter demand, pipeline disruption or elevated spot-market prices.
The economic result will depend on the acquisition price, terminal and transmission charges, storage costs and the winter gas-price spread. Even where the seasonal spread is modest, the cargo provides security value by reducing exposure to emergency procurement during cold weather.
Bulgaria’s strategy increasingly combines LNG delivered through Greece with pipeline gas from Azerbaijan and regional interconnection capacity. This creates greater supplier diversity, although it also adds infrastructure tariffs and requires careful coordination of terminal slots, transmission bookings and storage availability.
For Alexandroupoli, regular Bulgarian cargoes are important to utilisation and revenue. LNG terminals carry substantial fixed costs, and their commercial sustainability depends on maintaining throughput beyond occasional security-driven deliveries.
The Shell transaction therefore links three strategic assets: global LNG supply, Greek regasification infrastructure and Bulgaria’s domestic storage system. Its value lies as much in operational flexibility as in the energy contained in the cargo.
