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Some more of what 2002 has brought in AMBO escapades:

06 February 2002

Pipeline Bourgas – Vlyora Is Fully Competitive In Any Respect (1:30 PM)

Mr. Roumen Nikolov, representative of AMBO Company in Bulgaria and a creator of the project Bourgas – Vlyora, in an interview for Darik Radio

At the end of last week in Moscow, Bulgaria and Greece signed a memorandum for construction of Bourgas – Alexandrupolis pipeline. Why the pipelines became a topic of conversation recently, after so many years of silence?

The two pipelines, which are supposed to go through Bulgaria, are function of the development of the pipelines in Caspian and Black Sea regions. In November the pipeline of the Caspian oil consortium from Tengiz to Novorosiysk will be put in use. It will work with half of its capacity till the end of this year, which means 28 M tons yearly capacity. After 3 or 4 years it will reach its maximum capacity of 50 –55 M tons. It means that as long as the Bosphoros won’t be able to take those quantities, there should be another pipeline in the West of Bosphoros and the project of AMBO is one of the alternatives, which we think is very appropriate.

The Bulgarian politicians avoid taking a side about both projects Bourgas – Alexandrupolis and Bourgas – Vlyora. Do you think that the activization of the talks about Bourgas – Alexandrupolis shows some preference for this project?

I think that the government should support both projects on equal base. The final decision won’t be taken by the Bulgarian government but by the people and the companies, which hold the oil. They should be convinced which project is the most profitable. Here is the role of the government – to treat the two projects equally, which means not to give any preferences, political or economic, to neither of the projects.

Did you talk about your project with representatives of the Bulgarian executive authority recently?

Yes. During the last 6 months Mr. Ferguson, President of AMBO, met the Bulgarian PM twice. He also met the Minister of Regional development and Public works Paskalev and the Deputy Minister of Regional development Hasan Hasan, who is in charge for these projects. Meetings with representatives of the Foreign Ministry were held too.

What were the results of these meetings?

The main purpose of the meetings was Bulgarian authorities to be informed what Mr. Ferguson did, what talks he is holding at the moment with other concerned persons.

We know that the US government supported Bourgas – Vlyora project politically and financially. This project was supported also by big companies, which operate in the Caspian basin. Do you stiil have their support and at what stage is the project now?

The project is at stage of serious and almost completed talks with the main companies in the Caspian basin –

Chevron, Texaco, Exon mobil. Of course we are talking with other companies too. The US government funded pre-project research. At the moment we expect funding for legal assistance again by the US Trade and Development Agency. The funding will allow the three countries Bulgaria, Macedonia and Albania to reach a trilateral agreement, which is vital for the future of any pipeline.

Do you think that there is a place for two pipelines in Bulgaria?

Place for two pipelines will have may be after years, but not now. Economically considered oil companies are not willing to have two pipelines in one country. It means that they will depend on the country in two ways.

How will be proved the economic effectiveness of the pipeline Bourgas – Vlyora? It is known that it is the more expensive one.

When the economic reports for a projects are made, it is considered the transportation of the oil from the very oil fields in the Caspian basin to the final receiver, may be in North Europe or Amsterdam or the USA. The pipeline is just a part of this transport corridor. Shorter pipeline don’t necessarily means cheaper transport. Longer one, in the particular case that of AMBO, comes out in the middle of Mediterranean Sea on a tanker path, from which the oil may go to distinct destination cheaper.

There were made calculations that at the moment transportation of the oil is cheaper by tankers than through the Bourgas – Alexandrupolis pipeline. Did you make any calculations about your project?

We have very substantial economic calculations. They were made with the financial assistance of the US Trade and Development Agency. The final result shows that the pipeline can be competitive. Better results are obtained not only compared to those of Bourgas – Alexandrupolis project but compared to other projects too.

According to you, which lobbies define the oil policy – economic or political?

If you want to talk about the US government, which is supposed to bind to many of the oil companies, I can say that the proportion is 50 to 50, but economy is overwhelming in any case. It is positive Bulgaria, but is a matter of another conversation.

16 Februay 2002

Chevron and Exxon plan $1.13b link

Sofia |Reuters | 16-02-2002

U.S. oil giants ExxonMobil Corp and ChevronTexaco Corp are considering building a $1.13 billion trans-Balkan pipeline to ship oil westwards from the Caspian and the Black Sea, the project's manager said yesterday.

"We are in regular discussions with Chevron and Exxon and examine various aspects of the project," said Edward Ferguson, President and CEO of the Albanian, Macedonian and Bulgarian Oil Corp (AMBO) which manages the project.

The project, in discussion since 1996, envisages carrying Caspian oil from Bulgaria to Albania via Macedonia, bypassing the heavily used Bosphorus Straits through Turkey.

AMBO, registered in the U.S., has letters of acceptance from the governments of the three Balkan countries for the 898 km underground pipeline linking Bulgaria's Black Sea port of Bourgas to the Albanian port of Vlora.

The pipeline would have a daily capacity of 750,000 barrels. Ferguson said the project would be fully financed by Western companies and the three Balkan countries just had to provide institutional support.

He said the main consumers of the oil carried through the trans-Balkan pipeline would be northwestern Europe and the U.S. rather than the Mediterranean region. AMBO was confident that another planned 700 million euro pipeline would not threaten its own project as the two had targeted different investors and consumers.

21 February 2001

ExxonMobil and ChevronTexaco have denied claims that they are considering building a trans-Balkan pipeline to ship oil west from the Caspian and the Black Seas. The head of Albanian, Macedonian and Bulgarian Oil Corp. (AMBO), which manages the project, said last week the two majors are in regular discussions on the project, which envisions carrying 750,000 barrels a day of landlocked Caspian oil from Bulgaria to Albania via Macedonia.

According to a spokesperson at ExxonMobil, any involvement in building this pipeline is "very premature". There have only been preliminary discussions at best. "We always keep up to date on pipeline projects as they develop, but we have no current plans to fund any projects in that region," said a spokesman for ChevronTexaco.

The AMBO project, which has been on the drawing board since 1996, aims to bring growing oil supplies from Caspian states such as Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan, bypassing the heavily used Bosphorus Straits through Turkey.

Wonder if the oil companies were told to put this release out to keep the previous releases from being entered as evidence by the defense at the Milosevic trial