Bucharest, January 9, 2024 – RBJ – Romania became, in the second quarter of 2024, the largest producer of natural gas in the European Union, according to a report by the European Commission.
Thus, our country produced 2.3 billion cubic meters of gas in Q2 2024, followed by the Netherlands with 2.2 billion and Germany with 0.9 billion cubic meters.
The main natural gas producers in Romania are Romgaz S.A. and OMV Petrom. The largest producer is Romgaz, a company owned by the Romanian state through the Ministry of Energy, which ensures about 50% of domestic natural gas production.
In 2023, Romgaz’s gas production amounted to almost 4.8 billion cubic meters of gas, in the context of which domestic production amounted to 9.3 billion cubic meters of gas, and consumption was 9.7 billion cubic meters of gas.
The second largest gas producer in Romania is OMV Petrom, a company controlled by the Austrian group OMV, but in which the Romanian state, through the Ministry of Energy, has a 20% holding. Last year, OMV Petrom had a gas production of 3.27 billion cubic meters. Compared to Romgaz, OMV Petrom announced a decrease in natural gas production for the first 3 quarters of 2024, a minus of 3.6% compared to last year, to 2.3 billion cubic meters.
The third largest gas producer in Romania is the Americans from Black Sea Oil & Gas (BSOG), which in 2023 extracted 1.1 billion cubic meters from the Black Sea, in the first full year of operation of the Midia Gas Development (MGD) project.
Together, the three companies, Romgaz, OMV Petrom and BSOG, ensured 98% of natural gas production in Romania, the rest being imports. Thus, Romania has one of the safest positions at European level in terms of gas supply, with domestic production being almost sufficient for local demand.
Currently, companies and authorities in Romania are preparing to enter the club of gas exporters for Europe. The conclusion of a contract for the delivery of gas for pita from Germany has already been announced.
The amount of domestic gas that would be exported to Germany starting with 2027, according to the OMV Petrom-Uniper agreement, will represent a percentage of 2.2% of Romania’s domestic production estimated for the period 2027-2031 and 4.4% of the production of the Neptun Deep perimeter in the Black Sea.
The 15 TWh gas export contract from Neptun Deep was signed by OMV Petrom, and not by OMV, as Reuters claims.
Such contracts will become the rule and not the exception. Starting with 2027, domestic production is set to exceed domestic consumption by approximately 30 TWh/year (or approximately 28%). In other words, domestic companies – not only OMV Petrom, but also Romgaz – will export the additional gas produced, as it cannot be consumed domestically.
And this despite the increase in domestic consumption at a rate estimated by the system operator Transgaz at 0.9% per year in the period 2025-2027.
Production, on the other hand, will explode, with the entry into commercial operation of the Neptun Deep perimeter, reaching from 85 TWh in 2024 to a maximum of 141 TWh in 2028.
The contract extends over a period of 5 years and provides for the export of 15 TWh (3 TWh per year). Compared to the domestic production estimated by Transgaz for the period 2027-2031, of 681 TWh, the quantity is quite small, at 2.2%, and compared only to the production of Neptun Deep in that period (which would rise to 339.6 TWh), it represents a percentage of 4.4%.