Domestic gas production continued its sharp decline in early May, falling by about 13% in just a few days, after being reduced by another 14 percent in April. And the medium and long-term outlook is bleak, with OMV chief financial officer Reinhard Florey anticipating a drop in Petrom’s production in 2021 as a result of reduced upstream investment. The collapse with 25% recorded at the beginning of April is much higher than the natural decline in production, estimated by ANRE, at 3%, and was caused by the collapse of consumption as a result of measures to quarantine the economy and population, according to Profit.ro.

The decrease in consumption led to a widening of the imbalance between supply and demand, which led to an accelerated fall in prices. Gas prices on the spot markets, intraday and for the next day, both fell for the first time below 45.71 lei/ MWh, the price since the liberalization of the gas market, and forward contracts for the next month also fell below 50 lei/ MWh.