The National Regulatory Authority for Energy has decided to increase by 5.83% on average the natural gas price for households, starting August 1, 2018. ANRE has acknowledged the upward trend in selling prices for natural gas from domestic production, as well as in the import prices.

In a press release, the Authority presented the evolution of selling prices for domestic natural gas from April 2017 to March 2019. The figures reported show an 18% advance in 24 months. The price for imported natural gas in March 2018 was already 28% higher than the price for the gas produced in Romania – 94.58 lei/MWh, compared to 73.85 lei/MWh.

ANRE also indicates that unitary average tariffs for transport and storage decreased by 26.1%, and respectfully 23.42%, between April 2017 and July 2018, while they remained relatively constant for the distribution activity (+0.7%). Also, a weighted average cost for supply representative for the whole market decreased by 23% between April 2017 and April 2018.

ANRE’s announcement is full of information and provides factual and circumstantial support for the Ministry of Public Finance’s initiative to propose capping for 3 years the price for natural gas produced domestically. However, there are many other issues to be clarified in relation to this solution:

• the manner how it was selected, without no prior consultation with interested parties (“this normative act does not refer to this subject”, writes the explanatory note)
• what are the real effects of the normative act on the legislation in force (“this normative act does not refer to this subject”, writes the explanatory note) and whether it is convergent with all the legal engagements and positions assumed by Romania not only internally and in relation to the affected companies, but also with the European Commission
• the impact of the measure on the gas market, mainly on the exploration and production sector

“The imposition of a price of 55 lei/MWh puts into question the economic viability of some fields, which could lead to them being shut down with impact on production and jobs”, the Romanian Association of Petroleum Exploration and Production Companies – ROPEPCA warned, in a public position.