In the conference call to discuss the 2017 preliminary financial results, Romgaz officials estimated to 24-30 million lei the additional cost with the royalties due to the change of the ANRM calculation methodology. The expected amount to be paid into the royalties account could increase by 10-15% from previous year, according to current information, explained the representatives of the largest natural gas producer in Romania.

On February 9, the National Agency for Mineral Resources (ANRM) issued an order whereby the reference price for natural gas extracted in Romania, according to which the royalty charged to the state budget would be calculated by the producers, would take into account the quotations from the stock exchange CEGH Vienna.

The decision was criticized by the association of the main operators in the Upstream sector in Romania – ROPEPCA, by the Oil and Gas Employers’ Federation and the Romanian Commodities Exchange, as well as by experts such as Dumitru Chisăliță, according to which the cost of adopting the Vienna price as a reference exceeds the potential gains.

Romgaz reported a preliminary net profit of 1,86 billion lei (+82% compared to 2016) – the best level reached since the company has been listed on the Bucharest and London Stock Exchanges. Last year, natural gas production reached 5.16 bcm – higher by 22.2% compared to 2016. On the CAPEX side, amounts invested in 2017 were higher by 57% compared to the previous year, at 782 million lei. For this year, investments are projected at the level of 1.5 billion lei – significantly higher than achieved in 2017, out of which around 600 million lei are scheduled for the investment stage in the new power plant project at Iernut.