The exploitation of gases from the Black Sea offers Romania a historic opportunity, but the real strategic value does not lie in the extracted gas, but in the way in which the resulting revenues will be used, claims the president of the Intelligent Energy Association, Dumitru Chisăliță.
“The exploitation of gas from the Black Sea offers Romania a historic opportunity. For the first time in many decades, the country can once again become the most important gas producer in the European Union. The benefits are obvious: reduced imports, strengthening the trade balance, budget revenues and increased competitiveness for the industry. But the real strategic value lies not in the extracted gas, but in how the resulting revenues will be used. History is full of resource-rich states that remained vulnerable because they confused natural wealth with development. Resources do not automatically create prosperity. The difference is made by institutions, investments and the state’s ability to transform natural advantages into economic and technological advantages,” he said in a statement quoted by Agerpres.
The specialist emphasizes that Romania must not only exploit the gases from the Black Sea, but must transform this opportunity into an extensive modernization program, the development of the energy infrastructure, the expansion of nuclear capacities, investments in renewable energy, the digitization of networks and the support of a new industrial policy.
“However, the public debate remains captive to artificial oppositions, gas or renewables, nuclear or solar, state or market, Brussels or Bucharest. In reality, the great modern energy systems work through complementarity. Nuclear energy provides stability, hydropower plants ensure flexibility, renewables reduce costs and emissions, and natural gas remains the transition fuel that balances the system. Digitization and storage capacities integrate these sources into a resilient infrastructure,” Chisăliță claims.
According to him, energy independence does not result from the choice of a single technology, but from the ability to intelligently combine all available resources.
Also, equally important is the way in which Romania looks at the energy transition.
“Too often this is presented exclusively as a climate obligation imposed by the European Union. In reality, it represents the biggest global industrial competition of our generation. The stake is not only the reduction of emissions, but the control of the technologies that will define the economy of the future. The states that will prosper will not be those that buy turbines, batteries or reactors, but those that design, manufacture and export them. From this perspective, the Black Sea gases must be seen only as the starting point,” he says the president of AEI.
In this sense, he warns that, if Romania will limit itself to the export of raw materials and the import of the technologies necessary for its own modernization, the competitive advantage will be quickly exhausted.
“On the contrary, if the revenues generated will support the development of a competitive national industry – production of electrical equipment, components for smart networks, batteries, nuclear technologies, energy software and applied research – energy can truly become the engine of a new stage of industrialization. This is the real stake, the transformation of energy into industrial competitiveness and sustainable prosperity”, explains Dumitru Chisăliță.
In this context, Romania needs consistent investments in education, technical universities, research and innovation, so that Romanian companies participate in the big European projects as technology developers, not just as simple buyers of these future products.
“Economic patriotism takes on a new meaning. It does not mean the artificial protection of inefficient companies or the rejection of foreign investments. It means consistent investments in education, technical universities, research and innovation, so that Romanian companies participate in the big European projects as technology developers, not only as buyers of these future products. It also means creating real opportunities for young engineers, researchers and entrepreneurs, so It means that every lei spent brings another lei for society. It means that Romania will not lose its human capital. A country that loses its specialists will inevitably reduce its ability to capitalize on its own resources.”
In the specialist’s opinion, energy also has an essential geopolitical dimension, as Romania can become one of the main providers of energy security for the Black Sea region and Europe.
“Interconnections with the Republic of Moldova have already demonstrated that energy infrastructure can become a foreign policy tool. In the future, Romania can make a decisive contribution to strengthening the energy independence of the Republic of Moldova, to the integration of the Balkans and to the reconstruction of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. In all these situations, energy ceases to be just a commodity and becomes an instrument of strategic influence. From this perspective, membership in the European Union does not limit Romania’s ambitions, but rather amplifies them. The single market, European funds and common negotiation mechanisms offer tools that no state the size of Romania could build alone. Of course, European integration involves negotiations and compromises. But all major European states promote their interests within the Union, not outside it. Germany defends its industry, France supports its nuclear model, Poland pursues its energy objectives consistently. None of them confuses defending national interests with rejecting the European project. This is the lesson that Romania must learn. It does not need less Europe, but “…more Romanian competence in Europe, institutions capable of negotiating intelligently, experts to participate in the development of European policies and political leaders concerned with building sustainable alliances, not with the electoral exploitation of public frustrations”, is Chisăliță’s opinion.
The President of the Association emphasizes that Romania is at a rare moment in its history, given that it has important natural resources, a strategic geographical position and access to European financing at a time when energy security is redefining the balance of power on the continent.
“The lack of resources is not Romania’s problem, nor is it the lack of potential. What is missing are clean, but visionary people, capable of transforming these advantages into a coherent national project, which would reconcile patriotism with European integration, national interest with cooperation, and security with modernization. If Romania continues to view energy only as an economic sector, it will miss one of the most important opportunities of its generation. However, if it understands that energy is the foundation of a new industrial policy and a new regional influence, then it will demonstrate that authentic patriotism does not mean withdrawal from Europe, but active participation in defining its future. Ultimately, the decisive confrontation of the next decade will not oppose nationalists and Europeans. It will separate the states that will transform the energy transition into a competitive advantage from those that will continue to consume the future in sterile disputes about the past. Romania has all the prerequisites to be in the first category. It only remains to have the political will to follow this direction,” he added.