Several companies bought tender documents but none of them submitted an offer within the relevant deadlines, the government said in a press release.
The tender for a 5-year permit for oil and gas exploration in the 4,032 sq km Teres block opened in December 2014. Candidates had to pay an annual fee of 161,280 levs ($86,750/82,460).
This is the second time that the tender for Teres block is being cancelled, after in 2013 it failed to attract any offers.
Diversifying energy supplies is a strategic goal for the Bulgarian government as the country imports about 90% of the natural gas it needs from Russia through a pipeline crossing the territories of Ukraine, Moldova and Romania.
In October France’s Total said it has discovered oil in another Bulgarian offshore block in the Black Sea, the 1-21 Han Asparuh block which covers 14,220 sq m.
Earlier
that month, the energy ministry said that Shell Exploration and
Production, a subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell, has started exploration
for oil and gas in another Bulgarian block in the Black Sea. In
February, Royal Dutch Shell signed a contract for exploration for oil
and gas in the 1-14 Silistar block, which covers an area of 6,893 sq km
in the Black Sea.
(SeeNews, January 11 2017)
