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Bulgaria to grant new permit for oil, gas drilling in Black Sea

The Bulgarian government has adopted a decision for opening a tender procedure for a permit for deepwater oil and gas prospecting and exploration at Block 1-22 Teres.

The bloc is located in Bulgaria's Black Sea exclusive economic zone and spans an area of 4032 square kilometers, according to the government's press office.

The permit will be awarded for a period of five years.

If the permit holder discovers oil and gas reserves, the company will be automatically declared a holder of a production concession.

The details concerning the organization of the tender, the timeframes, the cost of tender documents, and the size of the deposit, will be provided in the decision of the Council of Ministers which is to be published in the State Gazette and the Official Journal of the European Union.

On August 29, Delyan Dobrev, Minister of Economy, Energy, and Tourism, signed a five-year contract with a consortium of Total, OMV and Repsol for deep-water oil and gas drilling at Block 1-21 Khan Asparuh.

In end-September, Dobrev reported that French Total had transferred EUR 48 M to the Finance Ministry, adding that the money would be distributed at the discretion of Finance Minister Simeon Djankov.

Adapted from Novinite