This report analyzes the current natural gas sector from the point of view of reserves, infrastructure and market setup. The report also addresses the prospects for the evolution of diferent segments of natural gas consumption by 2030 and provides appropriate policy and regulation recommendations which would lead to the value-added capitalization, on the Romanian Market, of the expected Black Sea natural gas production but also of onshore deposits.
With an annual production of nearly 11 bcm in 2016, Romania is the most important natural gas producer in Eastern Europe. Annual imports in the past years amounted to around 10% of consumption, necessary to cover the increased demand of winter months. Proven natural reserves were around 101 bcm in 2015 which means that they will be exhausted in the next 15 to 20 years at current consumption and replacement rates. Developing new natural gas resources and increasing the rate of recovery from existing deposits requires substantial investment.
The BRUA gas pipeline will be an essential development of the national gas transmission system (NTS). The pipeline aims at increasing the security of Romania‘s natural gas supply through access to new sources and will allow transit to the Central European markets for the natural gas production from the Caspian Basin (via the Romania-Bulgaria interconnector and the future interconnector Bulgaria-Greece, Romania will have access to the Southern Gas Corridor). At the same time, BRUA can represent an access corridor to the European markets of part of the potential natural gas production from the Black Sea.The interconnection of our country to the regional gas transmission systems is an essential step in the development of the NTS and for its integration in the European market. In addition to being an obligation within the European Union, the interconnection and harmonization of operating rules brings economic, trade, political and energy security benefits.