Bulgaria’s utilities regulator has approved a 10.5 per cent increase in the regulated gas price in the country for the month of December, setting the new price at 75.89 leva a MWh, excluding transportation costs, excise and value-added tax.
Despite the price hike, the fifth in as many months, the regulator said that the price for November was still about 10 leva a MWh below the reference price on the TTF gas hub in the Netherlands, which serves as the main European price benchmark.
The Energy and Water Regulatory Commission (EWRC) said that recent price increase was due to the ongoing cold snap, the halt of gas deliveries from Russia’s Gazprom to Austria’s OMV, as well as the inclusion of Gazprombank on the sanctioned entities list.
Once again, the main reason for Bulgaria’s lower price, compared to the TTF benchmark, was the gas delivered under the long-term gas contract with Azerbaijan, which will cover about 39.1 per cent of domestic demand for the coming month.
Additionally, state-owned gas company Bulgargaz has contracted one liquefied natural gas (LNG) delivery in December, and will also use gas drawn out from the country’s Chiren gas storage, EWRC said.