Romania’s gas imports increased last year by 629 percent, compared to 2015, reaching 1.185 million tonnes of oil equivalent (toe), according to the National Institute of Statistics (INS).
This while gas production decreased in 2016 by 12.5 percent, totaling 7.487 million tonnes of oil equivalent.
In November, the president of the National Regulatory Authority for Energy (ANRE), Niculae Havrilet, said that Romania could import 40 percent of the national gas consumption this winter, as the price of gas on the international markets will be even by RON 20 MWh lower than that of domestic gas production of gas in storages.
He recalled that the price paid by the population is frozen at RON 60 level per MWh until April 1st, 2017, following a government decision approved last summer.
According to the draft of the Energy Strategy of Romania, posted on the ministry’s website, the annual production of natural gas is expected to fall slightly to an average of 9-10 bcm during 2016-2030.
The document says that the natural gas output will fall, after reaching a new high of 132 TWh in 2025 due to production from the Black Sea, to 96 TWh in 2030 and to 65 TWh in 2050. The scenarios provide a drop towards zero of the gas output as of 2045.