How would Romania function if not a single liter of diesel reached the country. The scenario presented by Minister Bogdan Ivan
The Minister of Energy, Bogdan Ivan, said on Saturday, on Antena 3, that Romania has enough reserves for almost four months in the scenario where “we would not bring in a single liter of diesel, we would not refine a single liter of crude oil”.
The Minister of Energy was asked if Romanians should expect radical measures against the backdrop of the Middle East crisis, such as car traffic restrictions.
“From my point of view we should not get there, it seems to me that measures are quite drastic to be taken at the national level. It is the decision of each of us if we decide to go by public transport or to use our car” declared Bogdan Ivan.
“What is very important now is that we, like the country, have diversified supply routes for fuel. We bring somewhere around 75% of the oil that we refine in Romania from other countries that are not connected to the Middle East, especially from French Guiana, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan. We can say that we are not so affected. Instead, we bring from Saudi Arabia about 40% of our diesel imports, which creates us in at the moment an area of potential risk. What is important is that we have diversified the routes a lot. We do not depend on that area, but it is a global wave that affects every economy”, continued the Minister of Energy.
“We can operate for almost 4 months with crisis stocks”
Regarding the scenario in which Romania could call on the strategic reserves, the minister stated that “in the situation where there is a shortage in stockpiling and domestic refining”.
“Which is not the case at the moment, but we are also prepared for this situation. If we need to release certain stocks to balance the market in a certain area to keep the price stable and to ensure that if a new, much larger blockade appears in the Suez Canal, which would directly affect us, both in Romania and in Europe which imports 40 million tons of diesel fuel from there, obviously you have to intervene,” he said Bogdan Ivan.
“You activate the emergency stocks only in a truly crisis situation and if you have no other solution. We are ready with these crisis stocks, if we did not bring into Romania any more liters of diesel fuel, not a single liter of crude oil. We would be in a situation where, for almost four months, with the crisis stock plus commercial stocks, we would be able to operate according to the needs of Romania today,” said the Minister of Energy.
“People panicked, fuel was massively bought”
Bogdan Ivan also said that there were stocks for almost 5 months, “two weeks ago when this conflagration started”, but they were consumed from the ongoing commercial stocks.
“In 10 days since this conflagration started in Romania, everyone consumed 4 times more than in any other 10 days of the last year. People panicked, transport companies, farmers stocked up, massively bought fuel, obviously this caused a higher demand, but we are on schedule,” assured the Minister of Energy.
