Cold weather pushes up gas prices in Romania and depletes reserves rapidly

Romania has used around one third of its natural gas reserves allocated for the winter season, as colder weather has been driving up consumption and pushing gas prices higher across Europe, according to industry data. Romania, the Republic of Moldova, and Ukraine have been particularly affected after an unusually mild December, with all three countries currently importing gas at full capacity.

After roughly one month of winter conditions, Romania’s underground gas storage facilities were almost 64% full, according to public data from the AGSI platform, the European gas storage data aggregator consulted by Ziarul Financiar, which reported on January 16. The accelerated drawdown reflects both lower temperatures and sustained demand from households and industry.