Romania will import this year from Russia only 3% of the natural gas consumption, but next year it may abandon imports, as the domestic production would be able to ensure the full consumption, declared for Mediafax, ANRE President, Niculae Havrileţ.

“Since April nothing has been imported. And now, at this moment, imports are zero. We expect this year imports of about 3%, but we import gas for balancing. For example, if we have a colder period, the gases from the deposits cannot be extracted under normal pressure. If next year, the domestic production will cover the entire consumption, then we will not import,” said Havrileţ.

ANRE estimated a consumption of 11 billion cubic meters of natural gas this year, of which imports will amount to only 3%, compared to 25% before 2008. Last year, gas imports represented 7.5% of the total consumption in the country. Regarding the local gas consumption, it decreased by 17-18 billion cubic meters in 2008 to 11 billion cubic meters in 2014.

“For 2015 we expect a consumption similar to or even less than 11 billion cubic meters of gas. The reason is that six industrial plants belonging InterAgro haven’t operated since April. They consumed about 2 billion cubic meters of gas per year,” said Havrileţ .