The fact that Romania has 102% gas storage capacity does not mean that gas is running out. This is a technical reserve of gas, just like fuel tanks in a car. “We are filling up to the brim,” Minister of Energy Sebastien Bourduya explained plastically.

“It’s a technical reserve, it’s an overflow, like when we refuel a car and fill it up to the top, up to the cap,” Burduya said during the Focus Energy conference.

We have gas reserves of 3.24 billion cubic meters and we are 102% full.

At the moment, data from Gas Infrastructure Europe shows that two other European countries are above 100% occupancy. We are talking about Portugal – 106% and Spain – 100.41%.

At the EU level, the degree of deposit filling is 98.71%.

For Romania, the degree of filling is an absolute record, 334 million cubic meters more than last year.

Burduja also said that coal reserves and the degree of filling of the lakes are also higher than in other years.

“This means that in a mild winter, Romania will survive the winter without problems and will not resort to imports. We can cover our consumption through domestic production and what we store. We can also answer the inquiries of our brothers around the world. Prut,” he supported the minister.

Romania can import gas from Azerbaijan and LNG from Greece

If necessary, Romgaz can supply gas from Azerbaijan based on the contract it has with the national company of the Caspian state, SOCAR.

“Even in a severe winter, we can import up to one billion cubic meters of Azerbaijani gas until spring, and if necessary, we will negotiate with the Azerbaijanis about a possible extension for next winter. We can also import LNG from Aleksadropolis. This means to have energy security, to have a variety of sources,” Burduja also said.