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Having marginal domestic oil and gas reserves, Bulgaria had completely different preconditions for building up its natural gas market compared to its neighbour, Romania. This means that Bulgaria depends strongly on natural gas imports - traditionally from Russia. This dependency was up to 100 % until 2003. The Galata offshore gas field in the Black Sea started production in 2004 and now supplies almost 10 % of the overall demand.
Over the last 10 years the industrial sector has experienced a substantial restructuring process. As part of this process, energy intensive factories have been closed or have reduced production output, which had an immediate effect on natural gas demand. In fact the overall gas demand in the country dropped by 50% - from approx. 6 billion cubic metres in 1995 to 3 bcm in 2003. Demand in 2004 - which was up by more than 10 % compared to 2003 – suggests that this trend may have been reversed. Within the preparation of joining the EU the country's GDP has also been growing continuously over the last years, which should also be reflected in gas consumption.
Natural Gas in Bulgaria - Market Situation:
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