Bulgaria Has One Month of Gasoline Supplies as US Sanctions Loom, State Reserve Agency Says

Bulgaria Faces Gasoline Shortage as US Sanctions on Lukoil Approach

ATHENS (Reuters) -Bulgaria has one month of gasoline supplies left as it braces for the start of U.S. sanctions on Russia's Lukoil, which owns the country's largest oil refinery and most storage and pipeline infrastructure, the chairman of the state reserves agency said on Tuesday.

The U.S. and Britain last month imposed sanctions on Lukoil and Rosneft, Russia's two biggest oil companies, over Moscow's war in Ukraine, threatening their operations that still sprawl across Europe. 

The U.S. sanctions, which are scheduled to begin on November 21, have raised concerns about fuel supplies ahead of winter in Bulgaria, where Lukoil runs the Burgas refinery, a key part of the company's foreign business empire, and hundreds of petrol stations.

35 DAYS RESERVES OF GASOLINE, 50 OF DIESEL

Bulgaria has reserves of gasoline for about 35 days and over 50 days of diesel, Assen Asenov was quoted as saying by the Bulgarian BTA news agency. 

Energy analysts said that the country has more stocks of crude and oil products outside Bulgaria but that it must import those before Lukoil's pipeline network falls under the sanctions. 

"50% of the ready fuels are in other EU countries and some of the crude as well, which means that the government needs to activate these contracts ASAP," said Martin Vladimirov, director of the Energy and Climate Program at the Centre for the Study of Democracy in Sofia.

Bulgaria, which will adopt the euro currency on January 1 2026, has made moves to secure supplies since the sanctions were announced last month. It temporarily banned exports of some fuels, mainly diesel and aviation fuel, to EU member states.

Last week, its parliament adopted legal changes allowing it to take over the refinery and sell it to a new owner to shield the plant from U.S. sanctions.

This week, Bulgarian authorities conducted inspections and implemented security measures at the Burgas refinery in what authorities described as a measure to preserve critical infrastructure. 

(Reporting by Angeliki Koutantou; Editing by Edward McAllister; Editing by Conor Humphries)