SOFIA (Reuters) - Bulgaria has picked Royal Dutch Shell (L:RDSa) to carry out deepwater oil and gas exploration off its Black Sea coastline and plans to sign the contract by the end of October, energy minister Temenuzhka Petkova said on Tuesday.
Bulgaria, eager to reduce its near total dependence on Russian gas, has opened two tenders for two offshore blocs - Silistar and Teres in April.
Shell, which was the only bidder for a 5-year permit for exploratory drilling at Silistar that covers 7,000 square km, has pledged to invest 18.6 million euros (8.5 million pounds), Petkova said.
"This is a very serious success for us and one of the most important steps towards diversifying our gas supplies," Petkova told reporters
There has been no interest expressed to explore the other, smaller block Teres, she said.
