British company Melrose Resources plans to invest 90 million dollars in a project for rendering the block for extraction of gas in Galata into a gas depository in 2009.

The project has the support of Bulgarian government, which wants to have a second gas depository for better security, according to the EU requirements.

"Studies show that block Galata is ideal to be converted into storage thanks to the great potential of its tanks as well as to its location and infrastructure," Melrose commented.

It is expected that the depository will have a storage capacity of 1.7 billion cubic meters of gas.

In 2001 a subsidiary of Melrose signed a 25-year concession agreement for the extraction of gas from fields in Galata. Since then the company has acquired permits for work in other fields.

Bulgaria is not very rich in energy resources, so it imports almost the entire quantity of oil and gas needed for the country from Russia. About seven years ago, the country began to offer territory of its Black Sea continental shelf for exploration for gas resources.