The Minister of Energy, about the price of gas: “Until March 31, 2027, we will have it capped, maybe we will even go down with it” / The cause of the high bills this winter

The Minister of Energy, Bogdan Ivan, said that the price of gas will not increase “for at least a year from now” and that a legislative package to this effect is to be published in decision-making transparency next week.

The official stated, on Friday, on Romania TV, that the bills were higher this winter as a result of consumption.

“The price was capped. Therefore, the increase in the cost of bills was caused by much higher consumption, being in the coldest winter of the last five years. On average, in Romania, gas was consumed 25% more than in the same period of the last five years. Automatically, whatever mathematical calculation we do, we have higher bills”, explained Bogdan Ivan.

The price, he continued, will remain capped until March 31, 2027.

“I decided to come up with a variant in which we would continue to cap the price at the producers and throughout the chain so that the price at the end consumer would not increase for at least a year from now. This means that by March 31, 2027 we will have a cap on the price, maybe 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 the prices”, added the minister.

Bogdan Ivan suggested that the Neptun Deep project will also lead to lower bills.

“Next year, in 2027, we start extracting natural gas from the Black Sea, from Neptun Deep. We are almost doubling our natural gas production capacity (…). It is obvious that it must start to be felt on the bill”, the Minister of Energy, Bogdan Ivan, also declared.

Prime Minister Bolojan: “2027, a more suitable year for liberalization”

The gas price ceiling was due to expire on March 31, 2026, but the Government decided to postpone the liberalization. Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan declared on Wednesday that “2027, when we will have overproduction of gas, would be a more suitable year for liberalization.”

“Being a difficult year, it is normal to take these measures, given that from 2027 we will have new gas resources, which should lead to a drop in the price of gas. This means that 2027 would be a more suitable year to liberalize. Between April 1, 2026 and March 31, 2027, there should be a period with a capped price for domestic consumers,” said Bolojan.