Romgaz discovered shale gas in perimeters in Transylvania and will use new exploration and production technologies in the following period in order to extract it, Romgaz development director Radu Gheorghe stated at the Regional Energy Forum for Central and Eastern Europe (FOREN), capital.ro informs. He added that the company discovered unconventional gas, including shale gas, ever since 1994-1995. “You could say we accidentally produced unconventional gas until now. And now we will test new drilling technology. We are currently in a reevaluation stage both in conventional and unconventional gases. We are in the exploration stage,” Radu Gheorghe added.At the same time, according to him, Romgaz owns three exploration perimeters in Transylvania and eight in total in Romania, however very large investments are needed in order to move on to the production phase. Basically, large investments are needed in order to apply the fracking method in order to produce shale gas at an economic level. Romania could store 100 billion cubic meters of natural gas in depleted underground deposits, a volume 30 times higher than the current storage capacity, Gheorghe addedIn his turn, Tom Holst, Chevron Romania Country Director, presented the low price as an advantage of producing shale gas. “On the American market the natural gas dropped to USD 62 per one thousand cubic meters. In comparison, Romania imports natural gas at a price of USD 500 per one thousand cubic meters,” Tom Holst stated during the Forum. According to the Chevron representative, shale gas represents a clean source of energy and can be safely produced.Pavlovschi: Construction of Nabucco West pipeline could start next year
The construction of the Nabucco West pipeline could start early next year and could last up to three and a half years, Vlad Pavlovschi, general manager Nabucco Gas Pipeline Romania, stated at FOREN, HotNews.ro informs. Howver there is one condition: a positive answer from Azerbaijan’s Shah Deniz consortium. The Nabucco consortium proposed to the Shah Deniz II consortium in May the construction of a natural gas pipeline dubbed “Nabucco West,” a pipeline that would transport natural gas from the Caspian region. Nabucco West represents a revised concept of the Nabucco project. According to the new project, the pipeline would cross only through Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary, and will reach Austria.Deloitte: PNI questions construction of reactors 3 and 4
The National Investments Plan (PNI) in the energy sector could lead to an installed overcapacity of approximately 2,700 MW in 2020, which puts into question the timeliness of constructing reactors 3 and 4 at the Cernavoda nuclear power plant, Deloitte consultant Valeriu Binig stated yesterday during the same Forum. Likewise, the PNI does not ensure financing schemes for state-owned companies. At the same time, the total investments in the PNI by 2020 stand at EUR 7.725 bln.
