The Bulgarian government has proposed a package of energy cooperation projects to Azerbaijan. Among the proposed projects Bulgaria suggests the construction of filling stations, and to invest in the construction of oil and gas storage facilities and refineries. Bulgaria has only one refinery, with a distillation capacity of 200,000 bbl/d, that is operated by the Russian company Lukoil, which has been designed to process only Russian crude. A new refinery would help Bulgaria reduce dependence on Russia in the oil market.
Bulgaria, which consumed 2.9 bcm of natural gas in 2014, all imported from Russia, has already committed to purchase 1 bcm/year of natural gas from the offshore gas field Shah Deniz II in Azerbaijian when Azeri gas will start flowing through the Southern Gas Corridor (not before 2020). Gas will be transported through the Greece-Bulgaria inter-connector (ICGB), also known as the Stara Zagora-Komotini interconnector, that will connect to the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP). A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between TAP and ICGB in January 2014.