Gas Supply to Greece Back on Line

Bulgaria resumed Russian gas supplies to Greece on Thursday morning, after it fixed a transit gas pipeline that exploded on Monday, state gas monopoly Bulgargaz said.

Bulgaria halted gas flow to Greece early Monday after the explosion caused a 10-meter rupture in the pipeline in the southwestern part of the Balkan country, some 80 kilometers from the border with Greece.

"The pipeline is repaired. The gas flow to Greece resumed," Bulgargaz executive director Dimitar Gogov said.

He could not say how much gas was flowing through the pipeline after the repair, adding reasons for the incident were still investigated.

The pipeline transports 200,000 to 250,000 cubic meters of gas hourly to Greece.

Greek officials have said gas supply in the southern European country will not be affected, as Athens will cover low seasonal demand with existing reserves of liquefied gas.

Bulgargaz transports gas from Russia's gas export monopoly, Gazprom, to Turkey, Greece and Macedonia.
Last year, it supplied Greece with 2.7 billion cubic meters of gas.

Bulgargaz ships about 15.5 billion cubic meters per year of Russian natural gas to Greece, Turkey and Macedonia.

Supplies to Turkey and Macedonia are shipped along different branches of the pipeline and were not affected by the blast, Bulgargaz said.