Bulgaria has selected the Anglo-Dutch group Royal Dutch Shell to explore oil and gas in the Black Sea and the authorities in Sofia intend to sign the contract in late October, write Reuters, according to Mediafax.

In April, the Bulgarian authorities have launched a tender for the award of two offshore oil blocks, Silistar and Teres. Shell, the sole bidder for a five-year contract to explore Silistar block, with an area of 7,000 square kilometers, has pledged to invest 18.6 million euros in seismic studies in the area.

Silistar is located near a perimeter of Romanian waters of the Black Sea, where the Austrian group OMV announced that it will produce up to 84 billion cubic meters of gas, raising hopes that Bulgaria will be able to exploit its own reserves to diversify energy sources.

“It is a great success for us, one of the most important steps towards diversification of gas sources,” said Minister of Energy, Temenuzka Petkova. She added that there was less interest for the other auctioned perimeter, Teres.

Meanwhile, Total, OMV and Repsol would start drilling activities for oil and gas in the largest offshore perimeter of Bulgaria, Han Asparuh, in the period between February to May 2016.