SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) — Bulgaria's government says it will award British company Melrose Resources a 10-year concession for natural gas extraction from a Black Sea field off Bulgaria.
The company has held a license for oil and gas prospecting and exploration in that area since December 2007.
The government said Wednesday that the three deposits operated by Melrose have a combined prospective reserve of over 3 billion cubic meters of natural gas.
The Energy Ministry expects the fields to meet 20 percent of domestic needs over the next six years.
Bulgaria, which is almost completely dependent on energy supplies from Russia, opened its Black Sea shelf for exploration in 2001.
Melrose Resources is an oil and gas exploration and production company with interests in Egypt, Bulgaria, Romania, the U.S. and France.
