The US State Department’s Energy Envoy has arrived to Sofia to consult with Bulgarian prime minister Boyko Borissov on increasing Bulgaria’s energy security, the US Embassy in Sofia said on Tuesday.
"The gas inter-connector Greece-Bulgaria (IGB) is critical to diversifying Bulgaria’s gas supplies," Amos Hoctstein, the US special envoy and coordinator for international energy affairs said, as quoted by the embassy's official Twitter account.
In December, Bulgaria's state-owned Bulgarian Energy Holding (BEH) and IGI Poseidon, a joint venture between the Public Gas Corporation of Greece (DEPA) and Italy's Edison, signed a final investment decision on the construction of the gas interconnector between Greece and Bulgaria.
The IGB Pipeline, which will be 182 km long, will link the northeastern Greek city of Komotini with Stara Zagora in Bulgaria. It is estimated to cost 220 million euro (239 million US dollars). The pipeline will carry 3 billion cubic metres of natural gas annually in its initial stage and will have a maximum capacity of 5 billion cu m per year
