In the coming days, it is announced that the air temperature will decrease, which will cause an increase in gas consumption in Romania. Even if a significant amount of gas was extracted from the fields in the last 3 months, the level of forecasted temperatures should not cause concern for the gas consumer.

Romanian gas storages still retain 68.3% of their storage. This is less than the European average (74.8%).

Share of gases in warehouses (%)

Romania has the fastest rate of storage emptying in the EU this winter (Hungary has a higher rate of emptying commercial storage, but Hungary is the only country in the EU with a strategic storage that does not produce gas under exceptional conditions).

Dynamics of the amount of natural gas produced/injected in Romania over the past 6 years

From the natural gas production curves, it can be seen that the level of gas produced from the fields was the same as in 2021, although temperatures were significantly higher this year than last year. The slope of the storage gas production curve in Romania is different from the slope of the curve in Europe due to a different approach. In Europe, many countries believe that the warm period of this winter and the low prices of gas on specialized exchanges are an opportunity to stock up on natural gas in preparation for the next winter. In Romania, suppliers rushed to withdraw expensive gas from storage, which, if left for another storage cycle, would cause additional costs and increase the price of gas sold.

Source: www.gie.eu

Dynamics of volumes of natural gas produced/injected in Europe over the past 6 years

There is a difference between the management of the use of gas fields in Romania and other European countries, which starts with the difference in energy security and low gas prices. If in Europe security is more important at the expense of high prices, in Romania achieving lower gas prices is more important than high security in the energy sector.

Dynamics of volumes of natural gas produced/injected in Europe over the past 3 months

Regarding the daily supply of gas in Romania, we can note that the daily data on gas production and consumption show that on January 25, 2023, sources in Romania covered consumption and allowed to export approximately 2.2 million m3 / day (4.5% of daily gas sources Romania).

According to the Gas Production Schedule from Romania’s storages, the current gas production capacity is 24-25 million cubic meters per day. According to data on the Transgaz platform, suppliers have reserved 4.6 million cubic meters per day of transport capacity at import entry points through the Negru-Vode and 49.3 million cubic meters per day at exit points from the SNT.

Therefore, a decrease in the projected temperature is likely to lead to an increase in consumption in Romania, to a maximum level of approx. 53 mil mc/day, which can be met under normal conditions.