Romania imported in first 11 months of 2014 an amount of 6.108 million tonnes of oil equivalent (tep), with 1.408 million tep (30%) more than the same period a year earlier, according to data centralized by the National Statistics Institute (INS). In January-November 2014,  oil production was about 3.474 million tep, with 1.8% (64,800 tep) lower than in the same period in 2013.

According to the Energy Strategy of Romania 2015-2035, Romania’s oil reserves are limited, while the discoveries of the past 30 years can be categorized as modest except for some recent signals from the shallow waters of the Black Sea, where the merchantability is still under analysis, according to Bursa.

Although faced with a natural decline of oil production, Romania remains the fourth producing country in the European Union, namely the fifth country in Europe, according to Agerpres. Compared to European production, the national crude oil production of Romania accounts for about 2% of Europe’s production and about 6% of the EU.

The strategy mentions that, given the average annual production in recent years (4.2 million tonnes), the constant decline of 5% each year of the confirmed reserves and at a replacement rate of 5% for the reserves, it is estimated that the current reserves of crude oil of Romania might be depleted in a period of approximately 23 years.