Acting president Ilie Bolojan on Wednesday promulgated the law on the approval of Government Emergency Ordinance no. 81/2024 regarding the establishment of the National Regulatory Authority in the Field of Mining, Petroleum and Geological Storage of Carbon Dioxide, as well as on the modification and supplementing of certain normative acts in the field of mineral resources, petroleum and geological storage of carbon dioxide.

The normative act was notified to the CCR (Constitutional Court of Romania) in December 2024 by the High Court of Cassation and Justice. On April 9, the Court rejected this notification.

The ordinance adopted by the Government establishes the National Regulatory Authority for Mining, Petroleum and Geological Storage of Carbon Dioxide (ANRMPSG), a specialized body of the central public administration, with legal personality, financed entirely from its own revenues, under the subordination of the Government and the coordination of the prime minister, through the Prime Minister’s Chancellery, through the reorganization by transformation of the National Agency for Mineral Resources (ANRM), which is being abolished.

ANRMPSG will have several general objectives, including the development and systematization of the National Geological Fund and the National Fund of Resources and Reserves and the rational exploitation and development of mineral resources and oil reserves, in compliance with the strategies in the field and the reduction of the impact on the environment. Also, the identification of new uses of the national public oil transportation systems and the capitalization on the mining voids will be objectives of the authority.

The authority manages oil resources, mineral resources and the national geological fund, public property of the state, defined by the Petroleum Law no. 238/2004, with subsequent modifications and supplementing, and by the Mining Law no. 85/2003, with subsequent modifications and supplementing. Among the attributions are also activities of elaboration and promotion of draft normative acts, norms, instructions and procedures, according to the provisions of the legislation on the geological storage of carbon dioxide.

At the same time, the legal regime for exploitation licenses was completed.

AGERPRES