The government will pass a natural gas price regulation for after April 1 next week at the latest, Energy Minister Bogdan Ivan said on Monday.
„Romania, fortunately, is the country that produces about 90% of the gas it uses at the moment. That is why it is extremely important for Romania’s energy security strategy in the coming period to ensure, on the one hand, that we produce enough gas for the domestic market and, secondly, to diversify gas supply capacities both in Romania and in the entire region. (…) We are talking about a liberalised market, we are talking about the market in which today, at national level, we cover about 90% of our domestic consumption, and at the moment when we already have this mechanism transposed into transparency, which will be active from April 1, 2026, with a regulated price both at the producer and at the carrier, distributor, supplier. We are talking about price stability. At the moment, it is obvious, we have a price on the market, but regardless of the market price, in Romania natural gas for households is sold at a capped price, which will automatically lead to price stability and, regardless of the contexts, the price will not be able to increase. The piece of legislation I am talking about was put in transparency last week, we discussed it, we presented it and it is to be passed, if not this Thursday, next week at the latest, in a government meeting,” Ivan said at the Social Democratic Party (PSD) headquarters.
He added that in Romania gas deposits are about 40% full today, about 10% above the European Union average.
„We have the great advantage that since last year we have made sure and asked all operators to make purchases during the summer, when there are low prices for natural gas, to store them in storage facilities in Romania and to use them in winter, which turned out to be the hardest winter in the last five years. At the moment, there are no disruptions on the gas market either. It is obvious that it is an international market that affects us as well, but we have taken all measures to ensure that we limit the negative effects on the households in terms of fuel and natural gas,” the minister said.
AGERPRES
