Romanian prime minister Nicolae Ciuca says his country could provide "energy security" to eastern Europe, but its potential for gas exports hinges largely on offshore projects that have not secured investment and infrastructure that would take years to build.
The Romanian government and state-owned firms have begun laying the groundwork for offshore drilling and gas infrastructure, but the country's largest project has yet to even reach a final investment decision (FID).
Romania recently amended its offshore law, which was designed to attract investment in exploration and production, particularly offshore.
But developer OMV Petrom has yet to take a FID on the country's largest offshore project, Neptun Deep, at a time of what it has called a "very poor" investment climate . And even if drilling at the site began in the near future, production would be unlikely to peak until around the end of the decade.
Grid operator Transgaz's recent roadmap agreement with the EU-backed Three Seas Initiative Investment Fund envisions construction of up to €626mn worth of hydrogen-ready gas infrastructure, which would be sold to Transgaz upon completion.
That said, commissioning for these projects will likely take years, not months, and there has been only slow movement on interconnector projects with neighbouring countries like Serbia.
Speaking at the opening ceremony of the Midia project on 28 June, Ciuca said offshore and onshore infrastructure development, including several cross-border projects like the mooted interconnector with Serbia, could make Romania a "regional energy security provider", although he did not specify a timeline.
Supply constraints
Romania is discussing LNG and pipeline supply contracts with Azerbaijan and the US, Ciuca said, though delivery from those sources would require agreements with transit countries such as Turkey, Bulgaria and Greece.
Gas supply bottlenecks have long affected central and eastern Europe. Hungarian energy firm MOL recently said that the region was "not ready" for diversification, due to a lack of pipeline capacity and long-term bookings from Gazprom that block access to the pipelines for other users.
Ciuca said the Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria pipeline project would allow Romania to "discuss more easily" future gas imports. Test volumes have been flowing through IGB since mid-June, though a final commissioning date remains unclear.
Greek system operator Desfa recently announced a public consultation on the Komotini interconnection point with the IGB operator ICGB, but said that physical constraints prevented it from offering entry and exit capacity between the point and the IGB until "certain reinforcement projects" were completed.
That said, joint EU gas purchases could help provide energy security. The recently established "regional co-ordination centre" that will manage gas and power infrastructure in southeastern Europe will also make regional energy supply more secure, Ciuca said.
Separately, Romanian energy minister Virgil Popescu has said that production from the Midia project can help the country meet the 80pc target and fill storage "at least at the level of last year", when Romania finished the 2021-22 heating season with roughly 700mn m³ in storage. Black Sea Oil and Gas, operator of the Midia project, has said that the project's roughly 3mn m³/d of production is being sold to Engie, which is likely injecting it into storage.
