Gas imports in May by 353 times higher than last year

Romania imported 1,185,490 MWh of gas in May 2019, 353 times more than in the same month last year, according to data released by the National Regulatory Authority for Energy (ANRE) analyzed by AGERPRES. 

In May 2018, Romania imported only 3,353 MWh. 

This happened after the gas quantities imported in April 2019 were 100 times higher than in April 2018. 

At the same time, the average import price for gas in May 2019 stood at 89 lei per MWh, according to ANRE, by 12 pct less than that of the Romanian gas traded on the stock exchange (101 lei per MWh), as shown by the Romanian Commodities Exchange. 

Government Emergency Ordinance (OUG) 114/2018, approved in December 2018, established the price for the entire domestic gas production at 68 lei per MWh, for the next three years. OUG 19/2019, approved in March 2019, amended this provision, establishing a fixed price only for the quantities of gas intended for household customers and thermal power plants, starting May 1. 

This has led to an increase in the price for domestic production gas for industrial consumers traded on the Commodities Exchange, so that the economic agents prefer now to import rather than buy Romanian gas. 

At the end of May, the Energy Minister Anton Anton said the increase in gas imports is not a problem. 

"If the price for the domestic gas is higher than imported gas, the industry will focus on the imported gas. I do not see the problem," Anton said at a conference.