Romania imported between January and April 2017 542.100 tons of oil equivalent (tep) of usable natural gas of, with 251,1% (387.700 tep) more than the similar period of 2016, according to data centralized by the National Institute Of Statistics (INS).

The increase in imports was driven by the decrease of the external prices, although the domestic production increased slightly. The domestic gas production in the first four months of this year totaled 2,78 million tep, being 2,3% (63.500 tep) over the same period in 2016.

According to the Romanian Energy Strategy draft, published on the ministry’s website, the annual gas production is expected to decrease slightly to an average of 9-10 billion cubic meters for the period 2016-2030, says Agerpres. The document mentions that the natural gas production will decrease after reaching a new peak of 132 TWh in 2025, due to the Black Sea production at 96 TWh in 2030 and at 65 TWh in 2050. The low cost scenarios foresee a decrease towards zero of the gas production from 2045 onwards.