THE "ENERGY PLUGGED IN" CONFERENCE, 2ND EDITION / NICULAE HAVRILEŢ, ANRE:  "The needed imports, 9-12% of this year's gas consumption"

The gas imports that Romania needs fell to 15% of the total consumption last year, and this year they are estimated at 9%, said Niculae Havrileţ, the president of the National Authority for the Regulation of Energy (ANRE). He said that depending on how hard the winter will be, in 2014 gas imports won't exceed 10-12% of the total consumption.

The president of the ANRE said that the reduction of the imports quota occurred as a lower storage target has been set for this year as well, because consumption is on a downward trend, due to the increase in the price of natural gas and the application of energy efficiency measures.

"We can not set a storage level higher than what the market needs", said Niculae Havrileţ.

According to him, there is a surplus of natural gas produced domestically because we are in the warm period of the year, and by November 1st Romania will be able to store several million cubic meters of natural gas, up to 2.8-3 billion cubic meters.

Niculae Havrileţ also said that, in the case of the industry, the liberalization process was completed successfully in the area of natural gas and electricity, while, in the case of the population, the process is half completed.

On the natural gas market, small companies will still benefit from a regulated price until the end of the year, and will subsequently enter the free market, where they will be able to negotiate their prices with their suppliers, according to Mr. Havrileţ. He said: "We would hit two birds with one stone if we had some of the natural gas dedicated to the free market traded on an exchange. We've already had the first trades which place the price at 85.5 lei/MWh, below the level of the regulated market. Romgaz sold approximately 500,000 MWh on the exchange, and in the last quarter of the year the volume of traded natural gas will reach 500-600 million cubic meters".

According to the head of the ANRE, the liberalization of the natural gas market for industrial users was done amid the drop in consumption and of the price of imported natural gas, which led to a smaller price hike than the one estimated in the schedule.