On 1 October 2008, the Chairman of the Scientific and Technical Union of Mining, Geology and Metallurgy Dr. Eng. Tzolo Voutov opened the National Scientific Conference on “Oil and Gas Bearing Prospects of the Balkan – Black Sea Region”. The event was organized by the Bulgarian Federation of Scientific Unions and the Scientific and Technical Union of Mining, Geology and Metallurgy. It was held in Varna under the patronage of the Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov.

The conference was attended by more than 50 scientists, specialists and businessmen from Bulgaria, Romania and the Russian Federation. The Bulgarian experts presented reports on the energy policy of the country, the license arrangements for oil and gas prospecting, and the prospects for oil and gas bearing deposits in the Black Sea.