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The Commission for Energy and Water Regulation (KEVR) approved the price of natural gas for the month of February in the amount of 124.34 /MWh, excluding prices for access, transmission, excise duty and VAT.

At this price, Bulgargaz EAD will sell natural gas to final suppliers and to persons who have been issued a license for the production and transmission of thermal energy.

The approved price of natural gas includes the component price of natural gas at the entrance to the gas transmission networks, the component for the activity "public supply" under Art.

17, para.

7 of the NRCPG and the component for compensating costs under Art.

11a, para.

2 of the NRCPG, covering the costs of "Bulgargaz" EAD for storage of quantities in the gas storage facility in "Chiren", in fulfillment of obligations under the Emergency Action Plan. 

The commission approved the price after an analysis of the current data and documents submitted today by Bulgargaz EAD, which indicate the prices of the individual suppliers and the size of their quantities in the total mix.

Gas in Europe rose in price by more than 10% because of the cold weather

The regulator found that the total estimated quantity for the domestic market was provided by several different supply sources.

The price mix includes the entire agreed quantity of Azeri natural gas delivered via the "Bulgaria - Greece" interconnector/IGB/ at prices according to the current long-term contract with Azerbaijan.

These quantities cover 29.17% of the country's consumption and are of key importance in achieving favorable prices for the blue fuel.

After organizing a tender procedure for the whole of 2023, "Bulgargaz" concluded three contracts for the supply of liquefied natural gas (LNG) with traders from the region for the month of February.

In the price mix for the month, the public supplier has also included quantities of natural gas extracted from the Chiren gas plant.

With the provided quantities of natural gas for the city of

February covers the commitments of the public supplier to final suppliers and heating companies, as well as the quantities under bilateral contracts with industrial customers. The approved price of BGN 124.34/MWh is 31% lower than the price for January, which was in amount of BGN 179.33/MWh.

The main factor for this is the decrease in the stock indices of the international gas markets, as a result of the mild weather and the high capacity of the European gas storages.

The decrease in stock exchange quotations made it possible for the public supplier to virtually pump natural gas into the storage in Chiren at significantly lower prices, which optimized the price levels of the stored quantities.

As a result, the price of blue fuel from Chiren, which is a pricing element in the general mix, has been reduced, and a reduction in the final price per m has been achieved.

"The reduction in the price of natural gas by nearly 30% is a very favorable factor of key importance for steam heating users, district heating companies, industry and end users of blue fuel.

In view of the established lower price, the Commission will not take actions to increase the prices of thermal energy until the end of the heating season, and they will remain at the current levels", said the Chairman of the Commission, Prof. Ivan Ivanov, at the open meeting held on 27.01.2023 d. KEVR's decision to approve the price of natural gas for the month of February 2023 will be published on the website of the regulator.

Commission for Energy and Water Regulation /KEVR/

gas price