OMV Petrom expects a drop in gas and electricity prices starting next summer, but not at the levels of previous years, Franck Neel, a member of OMV Petrom’s Board of Directors, told a news conference on Thursday.

He was asked how he estimates price developments this year.

“It is very difficult to answer if we look at the volatility of the markets. In December, for example, we could not predict the massive increase in the transport of liquefied natural gas to Europe, which required 60 boats. So it is very difficult to predict, to estimate what will happen next,” said the Petrom official, according to Agerpres.

According to him, the crisis between Russia and Ukraine brings an even greater uncertainty in the market.

“The crisis between Russia and Ukraine also has an impact on the difficulty of making such forecasts. It is quite difficult to bring liquefied natural gas in large quantities to Romania. The crisis in Ukraine has an impact on the situation on the local market and I think Gazprom also does not know when the operation of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline will start,” he added.

In his opinion, current prices are very high and unsustainable in terms of demand.

“We expect a drop in demand and a drop in gas prices in the summer, which will also have an impact on winter prices,” Neel said.

Electricity will also become cheaper with gas.

“The price of electricity tends to follow the price of gas and carbon certificates. As for carbon certificates, we do not expect further increases this year, which means that the price of energy will depend on the price of gas. As I said, we expect the price of gas to fall and the price of electricity to fall, but not at the level of previous years,” stressed the OMV Petrom representative.