Bulgaria's Minister of Economy, Energy, and Tourism has announced a newly-discovered natural gas deposit near Lovech in Northern Bulgaria, estimated to contain 10 billion cubic meters of gas.

Novinite reports that Traicho Traikov made the announcement without providing specific details of the location, but he apparently referenced an area around the village of Deventsi in central northern Bulgaria, explored in the recent years by the Bulgarian unit of Direct Petroleum Exploration, Inc.

In February 2011,  TransAtlantic Petroleum Ltd. acquired 100% of the ownership interests of Direct Petroleum Bulgaria EOOD from Direct Petroleum Exploration, Inc.

News of the discovery follows the recent announcement of the awarding of a large concession for shale gas exploration to Chevron Corp.

Traikov said that Bulgaria will soon be able to extract about 1 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year, or about one-third of its annual requirements, 90% of which is presently imported from Russia.

Related Reading: Chevron Secures Bulgarian Shale Concession