Northbound LNG supply routes from the Adriatic and Aegean seas are developing in parallel across Southeast Europe, expanding the number of options available to buyers. The shift is also changing how regional pipeline capacity is valued in commercial terms.
Krk LNG adds another Atlantic supply source
Croatia’s Krk LNG terminal received its first cargo from Norway’s Hammerfest LNG plant in August. The terminal at Omišalj already handles shipments from a range of global suppliers. The August cargo arrived aboard the Minerva Limnos after loading at the Equinor-operated Hammerfest facility.
Krk was developed primarily as a diversification asset for Croatia and neighbouring countries. Its growing role is increasingly linked to how much regasified LNG can move beyond the Croatian market toward Hungary and other Central European buyers. Croatian and Hungarian transmission operators have been working to increase capacity on the northbound route.
That work is intended to allow more Krk gas to compete with supplies entering Central and Southeast Europe from other directions. The alternative corridor is also developing further south, adding additional routing options for LNG flows.
Bulgargaz launches integrated LNG logistics from 2026/27
Bulgaria’s state gas supplier Bulgargaz said on Aug. 26 it would offer regional customers an integrated LNG service starting in the 2026/27 gas year. The service covers procurement, terminal access, regasification, storage, transmission and delivery to an agreed cross-border point. Customers can either buy LNG through Bulgargaz or provide their own cargo while using the Bulgarian company for downstream logistics.
The integrated model builds on Bulgaria’s access to Greek LNG infrastructure, including Alexandroupolis. It also relies on storage at Chiren and pipelines connecting Bulgaria with Greece, Romania, Serbia and Turkey. This arrangement supports an expanding set of commercial pathways for LNG entering Europe through different sea corridors.
Serbia connects into southern routes toward Greece
Serbia is positioned increasingly between the Adriatic-linked and Aegean/eastern Mediterranean supply routes described for Southeast Europe. It already has access to Bulgarian supplies via the Serbia-Bulgaria interconnector. A planned Serbia-North Macedonia connection would add another southern route toward the Greek system.
Serbia’s Energy Ministry said the proposed pipeline would be designed at about 70 km on the Serbian side and around 1.2 billion cubic metres a year of capacity. For buyers, diversification is described as increasingly commercial rather than only geopolitical. The calculation includes the LNG cargo price, regasification fee, pipeline tariff, storage cost, capacity availability and the price at the destination hub.
Winter tightness raises value of multiple entry points
The relative competitiveness of different landing points can vary by destination hub and logistics costs. A cargo landing at Krk may be cheaper for one Central European buyer, while an Alexandroupolis cargo may be more competitive for customers in Bulgaria, Serbia or North Macedonia. Congestion and hub spreads are expected to keep changing those economics over time.
The competition is becoming more important as Europe approaches winter with unusually low gas stocks. Gas Infrastructure Europe data showed EU storage at 65.44% full on Aug. 31, compared with around 78% a year earlier. Germany was only 53.32% full, although Italy, Croatia, Hungary and Romania were in stronger positions.
A tighter European gas market increases the value of having more than one entry route into the region. In Southeast Europe, the change is described as an emerging network rather than a single dominant pipeline being replaced by another. That network includes Krk, Alexandroupolis, TAP-linked supply, Bulgarian infrastructure, Turkish routes and regional storage competing and complementing each other as flows develop across borders.
In this context, pipeline capacity and transmission tariffs are expected to play a larger role in determining which LNG terminal sets the marginal gas price in the Balkans as market conditions tighten further into winter.
