Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca said on Tuesday in Bilciuresti, Dambovita County, that Romania could achieve energy independence in no more than five years.
“We can hope for using our Romanian capital, using our Romanian capabilities in order to be able to achieve this goal of reaching energy independence in a time horizon that we have understood from the energy minister should not exceed five years,” said Ciuca.
Ciuca attended in Bilciuresti the commissioning of the Natural Gas Dehydration Station – Group 145.
“Everything related to the energy system and securing energy resources is a priority with the Romanian government. The need to find solutions in the medium and long term is also among the first three priorities of the government and, because in the beginning I said that I saw that there is potential, I had a discussion with the minister of energy, with the directors of Romgaz and Depozgaz and we decided that on December 20, at the government meeting, they will come and unveil jointly agreed projects for everything related to the development of extraction and storage resources. It is very clear that we need a joint effort and an alignment of projects and programmes so that we can achieve that goal,” said Ciuca, according to Agerpres.
Energy Minister: Romania to increase its gas storage capacity to more than 4 billion cubic metres
Romania is set to increase its natural gas storage capacity to more than 4 billion cubic metres, from a current 3 billion, Energy Minister Virgil Popescu (photo R) said on Tuesday.
He participated in the commissioning of a natural gas dehydration unit at the Bilciuresti storage facility, Dambovita County, along with Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca and the management team of Romgaz and Depogaz.
“We want to increase our natural gas storage capacity to over 4 billion cubic metres by 2025. Investments are on the list of priority projects and can be financed with European money. As we set out in the government agenda, storage will increase to secure both the country’s energy security and its energy independence,” he said.
The unit commissioned on Tuesday, worth 7.6 million euros, contributes to increasing the extraction capacity at the Bilciuresti storage facility, which is the largest natural gas facility in Romania.
According to Depogaz’s plans, a new storage facility could be built in Falticeni.
At the same time, the minister gave reassurances that there will be no gas supply problems this winter.
He reiterated that the price of gas had risen due to machinations by the Russian Federation through Gazprom, which increases pressure for the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline to be commissioned as soon as possible.
“We expect prices to fall after the winter, after the commissioning of the pipeline,” the official added.
Popescu : Azomures to carry out this winter revision planned for next summer
Azomures took the decision to move this winter the revision that was planned for next summer, in the context in which the contract for the purchase of gas expires on December 31, Minister of Energy Virgil Popescu said on Tuesday.
“Azomures was operating at half capacity. Their gas contract was very good and expires on December 31. The company has decided to stop production for a month or two and is going to carry out this winter the revision that was initially planned for next summer,” the minister said.
The minister brought to mind that the big gas consumers benefit from a state aid scheme that helps them through the winter.
On Monday, the most important producer of fertilizers used by Romanian agriculture and industry, Targu Mures-based Azomures announced that it is temporarily stopping production due to the high price of natural gas and electricity.
Ciuca: There are no signals after Azomures that other producers face same issues
Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca said on Tuesday that there were no signs at this point that other major producers were in the same situation as Azomures, which announced on Monday that it would temporarily stop production due to high natural gas and electricity prices.
“We have been discussing this issue since the end of last week, we have discussed with the Minister of Energy, with the Minister of Agriculture, because the production from Azomures is very necessary for agricultural producers. Yesterday we had a discussion on this topic and the next step will be that decision factors continue to analyze the situation and the real reasons behind this period of production shutdown and, of course, together we will find solutions. I can’t tell you now what we will do because we are still checking the facts. I believe that the Minister of Energy, however, can give more technical details about how we will find solutions together with Azomures to restart production,” Ciuca told a press conference held in Bilciuresti, Dambovita County.
Asked if other producers would be in a similar situation as Azomures, the PM said that, so far, there had been no such signals.
Compiled from Agerpres
Photo: www.gov.ro
