Romania currently has 2.8 billion cubic meters of gas in its underground storage facilities, which represents over 88% of the total storage capacity, according to a statement from the Ministry of Energy.
The European Commission’s Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/2633 (dated November 20, 2023) stipulates that Romania was required to have its storage facilities filled to 65% by July 1 and to 85% by September 1.
The same regulatory act also stipulates that at the beginning of the winter period (November 1), the goal for natural gas storage is 90% of the storage capacity.
“On a daily basis, Romania produces approximately 25 million cubic meters of natural gas, consumes about half, and stores another 10-11 million cubic meters. With 2.8 billion cubic meters of natural gas already stored, we are very close to reaching the 90% target. In a few days, we will achieve the target set by the European Commission for November 1, in record time.
Of course, we won’t stop there! We will continue to store natural gas until we reach 100% of the storage capacity. Most likely, as we did last year, we will even ‘overfill,’ exceeding the 100% level.
For those unfamiliar with the technical details, it’s like filling up a car’s gas tank to the brim. These reserves will be especially important, particularly if we face a harsher winter than usual,” said Energy Minister Sebastian Burduja.
According to him, this is especially good news in the current context of Moscow’s aggression against Ukraine, a country through which most of the Russian gas exported to Europe transits.
Ukraine has announced that it will no longer extend the contract for the transit of Russian gas on its territory, which makes it even more important to store natural gas for the winter, both for us and to honor possible requests for support from our brothers across the Prut , continued the minister.
“In addition, we have already started working on the elaboration of the Government Decision regarding the measures regarding the level of safety and security in the operation of the national electric energy system, as well as the measures related to the realization of the safety stocks of this system in terms of fuels and volume of water from the reservoirs for the period November 1, 2024 – March 31, 2025. Like any good householder, we, at the Ministry of Energy, make a sledge in the summer, so that we can get through the winter well,” Burduja said.