Romania wants to avoid higher gas bills in winter by importing more gas during summer

Romania will import more gas during summer, even if the consumption could be covered just by the internal production, so that the value of the gas bills does not increase during the winter period, when Russian gas is more expensive, according to local news agency Mediafax. Romania’s National Gas Transmission Company Transgaz Medias proposed to the country’s energy authority ANRE that the imports of gas in June represent only 0.5 percent of the consumption. However, ANRE requires the companies that are importing gas - Romgaz, GDF Suez Energy Romania, E.ON - to buy during summer 22 percent of the needed quantities from the external market, as the import gas currently costs less compared to the winter period. “Transgaz’ estimation is plausible, but we require for the gas to be imported in a proportion of 22 percent, because now it comes cheaper. We did the same in 2012. For the summer we require imports to cover over 20 percent of consumption, to not have prices too high during winter, said ANRE president Niculae Havrilet, quoted by Mediafax. The import gas now cost USD 400 per 1,000 cubic meters compared to USD 550 last winter, Havrilet added. Romania upped its natural gas imports in January this year by 71.8 percent, having imported some 219,400 tonnes of gas equivalent petrol (tep), according to the country’s Statistics Institute. Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com (photo source: Sxc.hu)