Bulgaria's economy minister has invited Canadian companies to apply for deep drilling a day after Chevron Corp said it is interested in extracting shale gas in the country.

Economy, Energy and Tourism Minister Traicho Traikov extended the invitation during a meeting with Canadian Minister of International Trade, Peter Van Loan, on Wednesday.

“We talked about the new technologies in exploration and gas extraction from deep drilling and since one of the Canadian companies is involved in such activities in Romania, I invited them to apply in Bulgaria as well,” Minister Traicho Traikov said emerging from the meeting.

Minister Traikov said that the upcoming signing of a free trade agreement with Canada is expected to boost trade by some USD 40 B. Traikov also briefed his guest about Bulgaria's potential as an investment destination, particularly appealing in his words for Canadian companies from the car sector.

A day earlier James Warlick, US Ambassador in Sofia, told reporters Chevron Corp. applied for a permit to explore for natural gas in shale deposits in northeastern Bulgaria near the Romanian border.

Shale gas extraction is considered by some as the alternative to conventional natural gas extraction that has the best outlook. It involves a novel technique tapping deposits in the earth's crust that were not reachable before.

Chevron has already filed a prospecting request and awaits confirmation from the Ministry of Environment and the Council of Ministers. Prospecting has been conducted in Poland and Romania, but no shale gas has ever been extracted in Europe up to this point.

The shale gas deposit of interest for Chevron is located in North-Eastern Bulgaria near the Romanian border.

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