Romania to increase its gas storage capacity to over 4 bln cubic metres

Romania is set to increase its natural gas storage capacity to more than 4 billion cubic metres, from a current 3 billion, Energy Minister Virgil Popescu said on Tuesday.

He participated in the commissioning of a natural gas dehydration unit at the Bilciuresti storage facility, Dambovita County, along with Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca and the management team of Romgaz and Depogaz.

“We want to increase our natural gas storage capacity to over 4 billion cubic metres by 2025. Investments are on the list of priority projects and can be financed with European money. As we set out in the government agenda, storage will increase to secure both the country’s energy security and its energy independence,” minister Popescu stated.

The unit commissioned on Tuesday, worth 7.6 million euros, contributes to increasing the extraction capacity at the Bilciuresti storage facility, which is the largest natural gas facility in Romania.

According to Depogaz’s plans, a new storage facility could be built in Falticeni.

At the same time, the minister gave reassurances that there will be no gas supply problems this winter.

He reiterated that the price of gas had risen due to machinations by the Russian Federation through Gazprom, which increases pressure for the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline to be commissioned as soon as possible.

“We expect prices to fall after the winter, after the commissioning of the pipeline,” the official added.

In his turn, Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca said that Romania could achieve energy independence in no more than five years.

“We can hope for using our Romanian capital, using our Romanian capabilities in order to be able to achieve this goal of reaching energy independence in a time horizon that we have understood from the energy minister should not exceed five years,” said PM Ciuca.