Compulsory gas stocks will also grow this year, after last year’s increase and, according to Depogaz officials, they have to grow even more to cover the country’s consumption needs in the cold season.

„In the last two years there has been an increase in the obligation for the storage of natural gas in the warehouses, currently covering about 70% of the storage capacity in Romania. In order to cover the needs of natural gas during the cold season, stocks in the warehouses should be at least 90% of the storage capacity of Romania, which currently stands at about 3,070 million cubic meters,” Bogdan Stanescu, deputy chairman of Depogaz, told e-nergia.ro.

Natural gas suppliers must have cumulated gas stocks of 23.5 million MWh by the end of this month, according to a recently approved ANRE decision. The stock is about 10% higher than last winter’s. Last year, stocks set by ANRE were 14% higher than in the winter of 2017-2018.