Romania's natural gas imports went down by 65% year-on-year in the first 11 months of 2014, to 373,200 tonnes of oil equivalent (toe), according to data from the National Institute of Statistics (INS).

The domestic natural gas production amounted to more than 7.9 million toe between January and November 014, up 0.9% year-on-year.

According to Romania's Energy Strategy for 2015-2035, Romania has the largest natural gas reserves in Central and Eastern Europe, with proved reserves of approximately 1,600 TWh.

"Given an average annual production in Romania and under a constant 5% annual decline in natural gas reserves, together with a 80% replacement rate for natural gas reserves, the current natural gas reserves could run out within 14 years," reads the strategy, cited by local Economica.net.

editor@romania-insider.com