Romania pledges to increase gas export capacity 40 times to dodge EC probe

Romania’s state-controlled gas transport operator Transgaz has pledged to the European Commission (EC) to increase its gas export capacity 40 times, from the current level of under 100 million cubic meters per year to 4 billion cubic meters per year. It has also agreed not to ask the national energy regulator ANRE for higher fees for the exported natural gas than for the gas used domestically, local Profit.ro reported. The company thus aims to dodge an investigation of the European Commission in which the company is suspected of having breached EU competition norms by restricting gas exports from Romania. The EC carried out two inspections at the company’s headquarters in Romania in 2016. Transgaz recently started working on the Romanian section of the BRUA gas pipeline, which will increase the country’s gas export capacity to Hungary. This pipeline will also make it possible for Romania to export part of the natural gas extracted from the Black Sea after 2020. Romania is currently the third biggest gas producer in EU after UK and Netherlands. editor@romania-insider.com