Hungarians are not giving up on the idea of ​​buying gas that OMV Petrom and Romgaz will produce from 2027 at the huge Neptun Deep field on the Romanian side of the Black Sea. Romania’s energy minister, Sebastrian Burduia, revealed that by then Romania should develop its industry to use these gases domestically, but rather to export products with high added value.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Hungary, Péter Szijarto, will be present in Bucharest tomorrow for the second day of the Romanian International Gas Conference, which gathers important companies in the industry, as well as officials from several countries in the region.

We have gas and they don’t, Romanian Energy Minister Sebastian Burduia said when asked what he would discuss with the Hungarian official.

“As a country, we are interested in being an energy center and we are interested, we have all the arguments: hydro sources, more than 33% of the production mix, we have a nuclear program, 20% at the moment and two more large reactors plus small ones modular reactors, we have offshore wind power, we are preparing legislation, we have gas and they don’t have it. Therefore, we are interested in being the providers of security, stability and normality in the region for our neighbors in a certain time perspective,” Burduja asserted.

Burduya showed that in order for the gases to remain in Romania, the development of the industry that consumes these gases is needed.

“If Romania has available gas reserves and if it can use them in industry, it will be a zero priority. We can convert gas to electricity, it’s a zero priority, and we have a 1700 MW project from Mintia, for example, that’s exactly what it will do, convert gas to electricity, which Romania can export with a higher added value than exporting gas.

But we can use this gas for the chemical fertilizer industry, for agriculture and especially in the pharmaceutical industry, which is a big consumer of gas and where Romania has a big trade deficit. This would be my priority, not as energy minister, but as a Romanian. The Romanian government should think of 2027 as a time horizon in which the industry that needs this gas will have a lot to develop,” Burduja said.

Earlier, the Hungarians also showed interest in importing gas from the Romanian Black Sea.

One of the most memorable episodes is a press conference organized five years ago by the national oil and gas company of Hungary, FGSZ, in Bucharest, where company executives made ironic statements about the lack of a strategy in Romania.

“You don’t have petrochemicals, you can’t use natural gas as a feedstock. What do you do with the gas? Do you burn it, make a big fire?” said Christoph Terhes, president of FGSZ.