Producers of natural gas will be required from 1 July to trade some volume on the gas and power exchange, following that the same obligation will start in early 2015 for natural gas suppliers, announced on Wednesday the Delegate Minister for Energy, Răzvan Nicolescu.

“We adopted in today’s government meeting five important energy measures. The first one concerns an Executive Ordinance for amending the electricity and natural gas law, 123/2012. The measures impose on natural gas producers and suppliers to trade volumes on exchanges, the volumes to be determined by the energy regulator in the coming days. So, from 1 July, natural gas producers Petrom, Romgaz, Amroco will be forced to trade some of their production on the exchange in a transparent and non-discriminatory manner”, said the Minister, quoted by Agerpres news agency.

In early 2015, the same obligation will be imposed on suppliers of natural gas, including for imported natural gas.

“We believe the measure is very good for the market, for consumers. Romanian gas market will have a reference price. The measure is part of the understanding that the Government has had with international financial institutions. It is part of the agreement that we had and that we have underway with the IMF and other institutions. And we believe it is very beneficial for the natural gas market in Romania”, said the Minister for Energy, Răzvan Nicolescu.