Romania, Hungary sign agreement for "security of natural gas supply"

Romanian energy minister Sebastian Burduja signed on March 10, in Budapest, with the Hungarian minister of foreign affairs and trade Péter Szijjártó, the agreement between the governments of the two countries on "solidarity measures to ensure the security of natural gas supply."

"Romania and Hungary take the responsibility to react quickly in crisis situations in order to protect consumers in the two countries," the Romanian minister said.

Burduja has provided no information on the content of the agreement. However, the statements of the two ministers indicate high interest on the Hungarian side for the natural gas to be produced by the Neptun Deep project Romania's offshore, while the Romanian minister encouraged such cooperation as long as the domestic demand is first covered by Neptun Deep production.

The destination of the Neptun Deep natural gas turned into a delicate political topic after OMV Petrom signed a contract with a customer in Germany, and the production of another offshore gas field in Romania's Black Sea (operated by BSOG) was contracted for export in Bulgaria.

Szijjarto said that Hungary "was keen to cooperate with Romania on energy issues as Romania was set to become a net exporter of natural gas in the coming period as a new offshore gas field is set to start production soon," according to Reuters.

"I told the Hungarian minister: we don't mind at all replacing Hungary's dependence on Russia with a dependence on Romania. We are a fair partner with European values. Moreover, strictly from what we will not need for domestic consumption, we will be able to export at a good price, in the interest of Romanians - for development, jobs, and economic growth," the Romanian energy minister said, as quoted by News.ro.

(Photo source: Facebook/Sebastian Burduja)