Kairgeldy Kabyldin, president of Kazakhstan's oil and gas company KazMunaiGas discussed increasing Kazakh energy exports to Europe with Bulgarian Energy Minister Traycho Traykov during the latter's visit to the Kazakh capital Astana.
The discussion included Bulgarian companies constructing ports, shipyards and dockyards on Kazakhstan's Caspian coastline for oil-tankers and tankers for compressed natural gas.
Traykov, speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the Eurasian energy conference Kazenergy 2011 in Astana, added that within two or three years Bulgaria will develop the "Southern Gas Corridor" and, should everything go according to plan, within three years Bulgaria could be able to transit five to ten billion cubic meters of Kazakh Caspian natural gas to Europe each year.
Traykov said, "To Bulgaria, gas supplies via the Black Sea offer an important opportunity to diversify gas sources and routes," the Bulgarska Telegrafna Agentsiia news agency reported.
Bulgaria is hoping to become a key player in the transportation of natural gas from Central Asia to Europe. Traykov's delegation included representatives of Bulgaria's oil-refining, logistics and machine-building industries to discuss bilateral projects. After finishing their discussions in Kazakhstan, the entourage will hold similar talks in Uzbekistan.
By. Charles Kennedy, Deputy Editor OilPrice.com
Charles is a writer for Oilprice.com More