Romania will end up importing 40% of its gas in 2030, if the Black Sea gases are not extracted, said on Thursday, Alina Popa, the CFO of OMV Petrom.

“Romania is among the few countries with such resources, which are essential for the recovery of the economy. Gas is a transitional fuel, necessary for Romania to comply with the Green Deal. Now, probably more than ever, we need this unlocked. let’s be a little more concrete: what does unlocking mean or why do we need unlocking, concretely, it is about amending the Offshore Law, in order to make the Romanian tax regime competitive, stable and predictable. As these investments are major in the long run, and we need this framework because we the assume the other risks – technical and market related,” Popa said, according to Agerpres.

According to her, the second element that investors need is the existence of a free market.

“If the resources of the Black Sea remain underground, this means that we will have imports that can reach 40% by 2030, according to Transgaz estimates. Or, if we unblock them today, we can become independent, we can develop other industries, we can export if we have too much. It depends only on us. The industry, in terms of liquidity, is ready to invest, but we need this legislative change,” the oil company representative stressed.