Energy Minister Anton thinks gas imports represent a plus; we have finally come to our senses

The very large gas imports of this period represent a beneficial thing, because the import price during the summer is lower and the gas will be stored in storage sites, Energy Minister Anton Anton told a conference on Thursday.

He was asked by journalists how he evaluates the fact that gas imports in June increased very much, 300 times more against the same period of the last year.

"I have commented on this and I will comment on it 100 times. I believe that we have finally come to our senses and take cheap gas so to put it in tanks, in storage sites, in order to have gas in the winter. Many times we happened to wake up in September, November, start accumulating and then the price of gas is much higher. Therefore, I think the fact that we are importing is a plus... What are we reporting to? [we are reporting] to what we imported last year. This year, we changed the policy, this year we are importing when the gas is cheaper," Anton told the Energy Focus conference.

When it was brought to his attention that this thing is happening because the price of the Romanian gas increased very much compared to the imported gas following OUG No.114, he ironically mentioned: "Everything happened because of ordinance 114, certainly. I am fatter, as well."

In June 2019, Romania imported a gas quantity of 1,479,598 MWh, 364 times more than the same month last year, according to data released by the National Energy Regulatory Authority (ANRE).

In June 2018, Romania imported only 4,061 MWh.

At the same time, the average price of imported gas in June 2019 stood at 82.08 lei per MWh, according to ANRE data, 19 percent lower than that the price for Romanian gas traded on the stock exchange (101 lei per MWh), as quotations on the Romanian Commodities Exchange indicate.

Under Emergency Ordinance No.114/2018, approved in December 2018, the Romanian Government set the price for the entire domestic natural gas production at 68 lei per MWh for the next three years. Emergency Ordinance No.19/2019 approved in March 2019 amended the provision, pegging to the fixed price only the gas intended for domestic consumers and thermal power plants, starting on May 1.

That has led to an increase in the price for domestic gas for industrial consumers traded on the commodity exchange, so local business operators prefer to import rather than buy Romanian gas.

In late May, Energy Minister Anton Anton said the increase in gas imports is not a problem.