Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov has rejected allegations that the government has already sealed a shale gas contract with U.S. Chevron Corp. Photo by BGNES
Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov rejected on Friday that the government had signed a shale gas exploration and production contract with U.S. energy major Chevron Corp, specifying, however, that talks on the matter were underway.
Borisov presented his explanations in Parliament at the request of Volen Siderov, leader of nationalist party Ataka.
The Prime Minister underscored that the terms and parameters of a potential contract that came under discussion fully upheld national interests.
In his statement, the nationalist leader insisted that the Cabinet had decided to grant an exploration and production permit at its June 16 session and that the company already obtained a permit for placing 26 000 drilling platforms on an area of over 4000 square kilometers in Bulgaria's most fertile land, Dobrudzha, and had made payments.
Elaborating on the government's stance on the matter, Borisov stressed that finding shale gas did not necessarily mean that production would start.
"If we had not done it now, everybody would have accused us of shying away from guaranteeing energy diversification and gas production next generations," the Prime Minister reasoned.
Responding to Siderov, who listed harmful chemicals used in shale gas exploration and production processes, Borisov said that if one measured the harmful gases emitted from a vehicle's exhaust pipe, all cars would have to be banned, following the nationalist leader's logic.
The Prime Minister also added that if Ataka had already tabled a proposal for a moratorium on shale gas activities in the country, the issued would be discussed in Parliament and center-right ruling party GERB would support it.
Over the past few weeks, Environment Minister Nona Karadzhova and Economy Minister Traicho Traikov refuted allegations that Chevron had been given the green light to drill for shale gas.