The Minister of Energy: “In the coldest winter of the last 5 years, Romania consumed 25% more gas”
This winter, Romania recorded a consumption of natural gas approximately 25% higher than in similar periods of the last five years, due to the extremely low temperatures, explained the Minister of Energy, Bogdan Ivan, on Friday evening. This was the main cause of the increase in gas bills for Romanian consumers, despite the price cap.
Minister of Energy, Bogdan Ivan. PHOTO: Mediafax
“The price was capped, therefore the increase in the cost of bills was caused by higher consumption, being in the coldest winter of the last 5 years. On average, gas was consumed in Romania by 25% more than in the same period of the last 5 years. Automatically, whatever mathematical calculation we do, we have higher bills”. said Bogdan Ivan, on Romania TV.
The Minister of Energy specified that, starting from March 31, the capping at the producer will be maintained, so that the final consumer will not bear increases in the invoice prices:
“What is certain is that we now have a capped price at the producer, regulated at the suppliers and capped at the final consumer, at 0.31 lei per kW. What is very important, after March 31st, I thought we would be able to go with a formula in which we would completely remove this cap, but, the moment I saw that 20% higher offers were coming to the market after this date, I decided to come up with a variant in which we would continue to cap the price at producer and the entire chain, so that the final consumer's price does not increase for at least a year from now”explained the minister.
According to him, the ceiling will remain valid until March 31, 2027, and, in the medium term, there is the possibility of reducing prices, thanks to the increase in competition on the gas supply market.
“We may even go down with it, given that we are starting to have competition on the market and we have a new supply operator in the gas supply market in Romania, namely the state company Romgaz. And in this formula, we manage to lower prices.” stated Bogdan Ivan.
The minister also spoke about the long-term production prospects, noting that, from 2027, Romania will start extracting natural gas from the Black Sea, at the Neptun Deep perimeter.
“Next year, in 2027, we start extracting natural gas from the Black Sea, from Neptun Deep. We are almost doubling our production capacity. It is obvious that they must start feeling the bill, because I cannot go in front of the Romanians, as a PSD minister, and tell them that Romania is a rich country, a country that produces the most natural gas in the entire European Union, but they have to pay very high bills”Bogdan Ivan also said.
The minister also announced the granting of aid for vulnerable consumers, already approved and valid until December 31, 2026.
“There are people with low incomes, people who have incomes up to 2,500 lei net, whether we are talking about single people, or whether we are talking about several people who live at the same address, if there is a family with two parents and two children, they must have a total accumulated income of up to 10,000 lei, that is, 4 people, times 2,500 lei, and they will benefit from a bonus of 50 lei on the electricity bill in every month”, explained the minister.
He also added that this measure will apply in the cold season, between October 1 and March 31.
“We start with October 1 until March 31, in the cold season. There are approximately 880,000 Romanians who today have incomes below this amount of 2,500 lei per month, who will end up receiving a decrease in the bill”Bogdan Ivan also declared.
