Page 9 - EurOil Week 47

EurOil POLICY EurOil
Trump discusses energy with Bulgaria’s PM Borissov
BULGARIA
Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov met US President Donald Trump this week.
US President Donald Trump discussed the increase of liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports to Bulgaria and the development of the Balkan Stream project during his meeting with Bulgar- ia’s Prime Minister Boyko Borissov.
The prime minister arrived on Novem- ber 25 for his first meeting with Trump. In a joint statement issued that day, the two leaders acknowledged Bulgaria’s energy security needs and supported its efforts to move toward “more efficient and cleaner” sources of energy including natural gas and nuclear generation.
The US said it intends to send a technical team to Bulgaria to explore possibilities for fur- ther co-operation between the two countries in different areas of energy, including nuclear.
This comes after Bulgaria announced in June it had agreed to buy natural gas from the US for the first time, and signed a deal for deliveries of 140mn cubic metres of LNG in the second and third quarters of 2019.
Although the amount is not very large, the deal was significant as traditionally Bulgaria
completely depends on deliveries from Russia. Meanwhile, Bulgaria is preparing to launch its own gas trading exchange at the start of next year, capitalising on its location at the nexus point of several new gas infrastructure
projects.
Balkan Gas Hub, set up earlier this year by
Bulgaria’s state-owned gas grid operator Bulgar- transgaz, has agreed with European energy plat- form operator Trayport on the implementation of the latter’s exchange trading system (ETS) at the new hub. The US welcomed Bulgarian efforts to become a regional natural gas hub, saying they would enhance the country’s energy security, lower costs for consumers and “make Bulgaria an energy leader in the region”.
Trump is also pushing Bulgaria to spend more on defence systems from the US. The coun- try already inked a deal to acquire eight F-16 fighter jets several months earlier. Bulgaria said it would commit to providing due consideration to proposals from US defence companies that wish to compete in its market.™
PROJECTS & COMPANIES
Bosnia’s Brod refinery to restart operations in mid-2020
BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA
BOSNIA and Herzegovina’s Brod oil refinery could resume operations around the middle of next year, according to the autonomous Serb Republic’s Energy Minister, Petar Djokic. The refinery was forced to halt operations after a powerful explosion in October 2018 killed one man and left several others injured.
The plant, which is majority owned by Russia’s Neftegazinkor, which is controlled by Zarubezh- neft, was closed in January and rumours have spread that it might never open again.
Djokic said that Brod’s reopening was con- firmed from Russia’s Energy Minister Alexander Novak.
The refinery ended 2018 with a net loss of BAM10.9mn ($6.1mn), significantly lower compared to the BAM15.03mn ($8.5mn) net loss posted a year earlier. The improvement in performance came thanks to much lower costs.
Djokic dismissed speculation that the
debt-laden refinery would be closed down. However, auditors have warned that the refinery, which processed 1.2mn tonnes per year (tpy) of crude, may face liquidity problems after it piled up losses and its liabilities exceeded assets. Brod, however, has dismissed these claims.
Oil demand has been covered through imports from Serbian oil company NIS, majority owned by Russia’s Gazprom Neft, while the Brod refinery has been closed.
Optima Group, part of Zarubezhneft, said recently that the Brod refinery would start using natural gas to fuel its internal processes from the third quarter of 2020. The gas would replace fuel oil as a power source for the refinery. The com- pany is in the process of signing agreements and selecting a contractor to carry out construction and installation work for putting in place a gas supply network and connecting it to Croatia’s natural gas system.™
Week 47 28•November•2019 w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m P9