Turkey opens first ever spot import capacity booking on Trans-Balkan pipeline

LONDON (ICIS)–Turkish regulator EPDK opened on Friday its first ever spot import capacity bookings with Bulgaria as major changes are expected regionally from 1 January 2020.

A total of 2.9 million cubic metres (mcm)/day of capacity have been allocated on the Strandja 1-Malkoclar interconnection point with Bulgaria.

Of these, 2mcm/day will be for Q1 ’20 and 0.9mcm/day for January 2020.

Spot import licence holders have until 17 December to submit their bids.

If demand exceeds capacity, the regulator will organise a tender on 20 December.

There are currently 37 Turkish and foreign companies which hold spot import pipeline licences in the country.

The interconnection point has been historically used for the supply of Russian gas to Turkey via the Trans-Balkan pipeline.

Off-takes at this point had been hovering around 42mcm/day in recent years as state company BOTAS and independent importers hold long-term import contracts with Russia’s Gazprom which expire between 2021-2043.

However, the transit via the Trans-Balkan line which crosses Ukraine, Moldova, Romania and Bulgaria is expected to change as a long-term agreement between Ukraine and Russia ends on 31 December 2019.

Russia is keen to divert supplies to TurkStream, a 31.5 billion cubic metres (bcm) two-string corridor across the Black Sea, which is designed to supply Turkey, Bulgaria, Serbia and Hungary.

TurkStream 1 will feed the Turkish market while TurkStream 2 will connect with the Bulgarian transmission system via a new exit point, Strandja 2-Malkoclar.

TurkStream 1 is expected to be commissioned in January 2020, but TurkStream2 may be delayed until the second half of 2020 or even later.

The Strandja 1-Malkoclar border point will be used for pipeline imports from the Bulgarian domestic market into Turkey.