The price of gas should fall for all consumers from July 1, when the gas market will be completely liberalized, Bogdan Chiriţoiu, president of the Competition Council, told Agerpres.

“My personal opinion is that the price of gas should drop from July for all consumers, once the market gets liberalized, but this should be verified with the Ministry of Energy and the National Energy Regulatory Authority. I expect to see price decreases, because, first of all, the price of the barrel decreases, and there is a certain connection between the price of the barrel and that of the gas. Secondly, there will probably be a drop in consumption, once the summer comes. Then the gas tanks are full, so the producers have nowhere else to store, so I expect to see a drop in the price. But, again, it is a strictly personal opinion, “he said.

Chiriţoiu showed that there are price reductions in spot stock markets, both for gas and electricity. “On electricity, it may have to do with lowering prices on emissions certificates. On gas, we also see decreases, but they are still above the price of the Baumgarten hub. By mid-March, electricity consumption has dropped very significantly. Further, as consumption evolves, after closing the factories, we will see. On gas, the Competition Council has no data regarding consumption,” the president of the competition authority said.

At the same time, the price of fuel in gas stations decreased until mid-March. “Likewise, for fuel, the decrease in the price of the barrel is transferred to the price at the pump, and Romania has the lowest or almost the lowest prices in the European Union. Similarly, we do not see a decrease in consumption, compared to the period similar to last year, but again, this is data until mid-March,” said Chiriţoiu.