TotalEnergies wins Bulgargaz tender for Jan-Feb LNG delivery

Bulgaria's state-owned gas importer Bulgargaz awarded its public tender for deliveries of LNG for January-February 2024 to France's TotalEnergies, according to a Bulgragaz's statement Oct. 24.

"We are pleased to confirm that TotalEnergies Gas and Power Ltd has indeed been awarded in this procedure," said a representative from Bulgargaz.

Nine companies submitted offers in response to the tender which opened Oct. 9 for deliveries to be made to LNG terminals in Turkey. The proposals were ranked by a committee appointed by Bulgargaz's executive director. Each offer was evaluated based on a previously announced methodology.

The tender was for four cargoes of 3.4 TBtu +/-5% operational tolerance, to be delivered in January, February, July and August 2024 of 1 million MWh/month each, with one cargo per window, according to the tender information published by Bulgargaz on its website. The tender stated Turkey as the unloading destination, with an option to deliver in Greece.

While the final award price is unconfirmed, Bulgargaz said in the tender details that the prices have to reference front month Dutch TTF for the month of delivery.

The company will communicate the awardees of the July-August 2024 deliveries on Nov. 30.

Bulgargaz and Turkey's state-owned crude oil and natural gas pipelines company Botas signed a 13-year deal in January 2023 under which Bulgaria is allowed to import up to 1.5 Bcm/year of regasified LNG through Turkey.

This was a key move to ensure Bulgaria's supply security this winter after Russia cut off the country's gas in April 2022.

Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, assessed the DES Mediterranean marker on Oct. 23 at $16.917/MMBtu.