Overtaxation and excessive regulation make it difficult for operators to make an investment decision in various production lines in the oil and gas sector, said Daniel Apostol, general director of the Oil and Gas Employers’ Federation (FPPG), at a specialized event.
He emphasized that Romania is currently in an advantageous position at the European geopolitical and geostrategic level.
“Romania produces energy, it is an energy producer, it is also a consumer, of course, but more than 90% of its energy consumption is provided by Romania from its own production. Over-regulation and over-taxation make investment decisions extremely difficult,” said Daniel Apostol, quoted by Agerpres.
At the same time, he referred to the conclusions of a study on the taxation system specific to the oil and gas sector.
According to the study, the system is extremely complex, being composed of “several types of fees and taxes which, added up, become extremely burdensome to a development and a continuous investment decision.”
In this context, the General Director of FPPG referred to oil royalties, the tax on additional revenues obtained from the deregulation of natural gas prices, the tax on additional revenues from the sale of natural gas from its own internal production, from deep offshore or onshore oil perimeters, the income tax from natural resource exploitation activities, other than natural gas.
At the same time, Daniel Apostol referred to the solidarity contribution that appeared in recent years, “the consequence of European policies, the consequence of over-regulation”. He also drew attention to the additional tax for legal entities that carry out activities in the oil and gas sectors, called “specific turnover tax.”
On the other hand, the general director of the FPPG drew attention to the risk of a decrease in energy security, which is very high, in the context of a border war, “with many other extremely hot international conflicts, which generate fear in the international markets, with a high degree of uncertainty and instability in the financial markets.”
He emphasized that Romania benefits from resources and an industry that are capable of providing Romania and Europe with an increased degree of energy security with only one condition: investors in this sector should be favored by the regulatory framework to invest further, to- and continue the development of the production sector.