Natural gas prices will definitely not increase until next year, on March 31. There will be a capping in several margins, most likely by the end of next week, with the entire legislative framework to put this mechanism on the market being developed, Energy Minister Bogdan Ivan said in a press conference on Thursday.
“Following the technical discussions that we have had since September last year with the entire market, with specialists in the field, after an agreement at the level of the Romanian Government, we are at the stage where people at home need to know that natural gas prices will definitely not increase until next year, on March 31, 2027. (…) I do not want to go into extremely technical details, which I will present immediately after we amend the regulatory acts next week, because we are talking about very complex legislation. I can only tell you the following: the moment you cap the price from the producer plus the entire chain, up to the final consumer, it is obvious that you have some margins in which they can come up with different tariffs, but you make sure that the final price, regardless of how these margins are established, will not exceed the price being paid today. (…) Next week we will have more technical discussions and meetings and by the end of next week, most likely, the entire legislative framework will be developed to put in place this mechanism in the market. (…) We can say generically, to make everyone at home understand, that there will be a capping in several margins and the price will remain the same as today,” explained the Minister of Energy.
He stressed that this comes at the same time as a period in which the market is preparing very much for the elimination of the cap and to create its internal mechanisms and especially after there will be an additional allocation of about 8 billion cubic meters in the Romanian market, gas that will come from the Neptun Deep perimeter.
“That means we will have more liquidity in the market, we will automatically have more gas, the price will naturally decrease throughout the chain. The very big advantage of this mechanism is that the price will be able, under conditions of competition in the market, to lead to a decrease. That is, let’s not just talk about a ceiling that limits the increase, but let’s also talk about a decrease in the price, given that we already see a very clear trend in the market, both for household consumers and for industrial consumers, to have a decrease in the price of natural gas,” added Ivan.
Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan declared on Wednesday that between April 1 this year and the end of March 2027 there will be a transitional period with a natural gas price that will no longer be capped, but will be one administered for household consumers, so that it is stable.
Ilie Bolojan explained that, in this regard, the gas price for household consumers will be regulated throughout the chain – from the producer to the transporters, to the distributors and to the suppliers, noting that “the price will remain stable.”
“An important aspect is the administrative capping of the gas price. As you know, we must take steps to eliminate the capping of the gas price, but at the same time we must also protect Romanian citizens from the possible inflationary surge, which could occur against the backdrop of uncontrolled gas price increases. Also, being a difficult year, it is normal to take these measures, considering that, from 2027, Romania will have an important advantage in the sense that, as I said, we will have additional gas resources in the Black Sea, which should lead to a decrease in the gas price and eliminate any problems with supply in winter, during periods when we have frost,” said Bolojan, in a press conference at the Victoria Palace.
According to the Prime Minister, this means that 2027, when there will be this overproduction of gas, would be a more appropriate year to liberalize the gas price.
“We therefore propose that, between April 1 this year, the end of March and the end of March 2027, there be a transitional period, with a price that will no longer be capped, a price administered for household consumers. What does this mean? It means that we will regulate prices for households throughout the chain, from producers, to transporters, to distributors and suppliers, this means that the price will remain stable throughout the year and there will be no other changes until spring next year. The gas price will be administered for all household consumers and for all CHPs for the quantity used for generating thermal energy, for other activities there will be no more cap, but, as the data stands today, most consumers in the economy purchase gas at prices that are below the cap,” Bolojan specified.