Autumn could bring about a two digit cut for natural gas prices

Alina Toma Vereha

Autumn could bring about a new price cut for natural gas, this time in the two-digit range, said Adrian Gurzău, the vice-president of the Abuse Commission of the Chamber of Deputies. The authorities have already taken the first step, by cutting gas prices by 3% on May 1st, and by 5% on July 1st, after the scandal caused by inflated natural gas bills.

Mr. Gurzău explained: "The Abuse Commission heard several times the chairman of the ANRE, (the energy market regulator), Petru Lificiu. Mr. Lificiu also discussed the issue with the Government. The Commission for Industry of the Chamber of Deputies, is reviewing the base rate for electricity and natural gas, and also consulted with the chairman of the ANRE. I also attended these discussions and I believe the conditions are met to allow ANRE to cut natural gas prices again, but this time the cut will be in the two-digit range. I for one think that an 8% overall price cut starting July 8th is a significant accomplishment. It is the largest price cut made by the ANRE so far".

Deputy Gurzău claims that, according to data made by the ANRE, the price for imported natural gas will reach USD 220-230/1.000 mc, by the end of the year. Moreover, ANRE is carefully monitoring the prices of natural gas suppliers, carriers and distributors.

Adrian Gurzău told us: "The regulatory authority is currently investigating all the players in the natural gas sector. The investigations will check the investments which were made and their bookkeeping, and all the expenses which are included in the tariff paid by end user. These include rent, salaries and outsourced services. We hope that within a month or two, ANRE can present us with the results of these investigations and begin taking the appropriate steps, if applicable".

The vice-president of the Abuse Commission expressed his happiness with the fact that the price of gas remains a matter of interest for members of the Parliament and of the Government. He also claims that the drop of the base rate didn"t translate into smaller gas bills, even though it was supposed to: "ANRE has put up for public debate a new bill for setting natural gas prices. It is well known that I have struggled to create this commission for investigating the way the gas consumption per kWh is calculated, because the way it was done before would inflate bills by several percent".

Even though the creation of the new commission was not approved, I am happy that the billing method is being carefully reviewed".

Deputy Adrian Gurzău claims that he wants to make sure that everyone understands and knows what they"re paying: "I want all consumers to benefit from a complete transparency in billing and base rates. People have to know what they pay for and to make sure the price is fair. I hope that the efforts of the Industry Commission and of the ANRE will lead to a new price cut and to the simplification of the formula used for calculating gas bills. I want Romanian consumers to benefit from the same rights and receive the same treatment from their providers as European consumers".

According to deputy Gurzău, the following elements are up for further review: the terms of the provision and distribution contracts, the way leaks of the transport grid are included in the price paid by the end-user, the issue of public and private property use by grid operators, as well as the metering of the transport and distribution grid.