Romania has sufficient gas for winter, government says

State gas reserves are almost at 59%, allowing Romanian consumers to weather an eventual total stop in Russian gas deliveries during winter. Previous plans had set a target of 46% by August, but current reserves are well beyond that, according to government sources.

Officials within energy ministries from all EU member states recently discussed energy security and the management of the gas supply for the coming winter. Earlier this week, they agreed to reduce gas demand by 15% next winter, despite pushback from countries like Poland or Spain.

Following up on the agreement, ministers in the Energy Council reached a political agreement regarding coordinated actions meant to reduce gas consumption for the period spanning August 1, 2022 - March 31, 2023. The measures aim to secure a constant stream of gas for protected consumers and critical industries.

The regulation essentially requires that the volume of gas consumed be 15% lower than the average volume consumed in the similar period of the last 5 years. This is done to ensure the security of gas supplies in the winter of 2022-2023.

The cutback on gas will only impact some sectors of the economy, said officials within Romania’s energy ministry. “We will have a stock of 80% by November 1,” said PM Nicolae Ciucă cited by HotNews.

“Romania has gas ready for winter. We won’t run out of gas [...] even if Putin stops the gas,” said Social-Democratic leader Marcel Ciolacu for B1TV. “We’ve learned our lesson in history when it comes to depending on Russians. They always took from us, never gave us anything,” he added.

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