Sofia, August 22, 2025 – The Europe Today: Bulgaria’s Ministry of Energy has stated that the country will continue pursuing its oil and gas projects while strictly adhering to environmental legislation, responding to calls from Greenpeace to halt all oil and gas operations in the Black Sea.
Environmental groups, including Greenpeace and Skytruth, recently reported the detection of around 170 oil and ship fuel stains in the Black Sea over the past year, based on satellite imagery.
The Ministry clarified that Bulgaria currently extracts natural gas only from the Galata field within its waters, and that there is no active oil production. As such, it emphasized that the oil patches identified are not linked to drilling or pipeline activity.
Highlighting Bulgaria’s reliance on energy imports, the Ministry noted that the country consumes about 2.5 billion cubic meters of natural gas and 4 million tonnes of oil annually. Developing new deposits, it said, would help reduce this dependence.
At the same time, Bulgaria continues to invest in renewable energy and energy efficiency, which the Ministry stressed remain central to its long-term sustainable energy strategy.
