Greek, Bulgarian ministers confirm revival of Burgas-Alexandroupolis pipeline plan

A quarter-of-a-century plan to build a crude oil pipeline from the western Black Sea coast to the northeast Aegean – the much-hyped but ultimately abandoned Burgas-Alexandroupolis project – has apparently been “resurrected”, but this time without Russian “involvement”.

The 1990s-era proposal envisioned the bypassing of the narrow Bosporus and Dardanelles by having mid-sized tankers loaded with Russian crude off-load at the Bulgarian port of Burgas, with the proposed pipeline then funneling the oil to a terminal at Greece’s Alexandropoulis – ostensibly for re-loading aboard very large and ultra-large crude carriers. The proposal was eagerly promoted by successive Greek governments, before fizzling out with the advent of the fiscal and economic crisis in 2009.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine and the EU’s subsequent disdain for Russian energy products, as well as skyrocketing transit fees now demanded by Turkey to allow tankers through the Straits, has restarted negotiations between Athens and Sofia to build such a pipeline, but with a major difference, however: the oil would be offloaded at Alexandroupolis and pumped north to Bulgaria.

In reply to an Ot.gr question on Tuesday, Greek Energy and Environment Minister Kostas Skrekas confirmed that such talks are underway over a specific investment plan.

“Bulgaria has proposed the specific project, and we’re in discussions…oil transport would take place from Alexandroupolis and be transported to Burgas in Bulgaria,” he said.

Meanwhile, speaking at an energy-related conference of Balkan countries’ relevant ministers, Bulgarian Minister Rosen Hristov said the Lukoil refinery in his country has essentially been deprived of crude oil due to a quintupling of transit fees for Bosporus and Dardanelles passage, with the country now looking for other supply avenues. He added that the prospect of actually moving forward with the pipeline – now part of SE European political “lore” – is being discussed in tandem with the linking, via riverways, of Bulgaria’s Black Sea ports with northern Greece ports on the Aegean.