BUCHAREST: Gas imports will be roughly 20 percent cheaper than Romanian stored domestic gas prices this winter, meaning the European Union state may import more, the head of energy regulator ANRE Niculae Havrilet said on Monday.
Romania, one of emerging Europe's least energy-reliant state, currently imports about 8 percent of its consumption, with the rest produced locally by state-owned producer Romgaz and oil and gas group OMV Petrom, controlled by Austria's OMV.
"We noticed the possibility that next winter we will have turbulences as a result of the fact that domestic gas in storage may cost a lot more than imported gas," Havrilet was quoted as saying by state news agency Agerpres.
"These discrepancies cause financial losses for system participants which ultimately get transferred to the bills of all gas consumers."
Havrilet said imported gas is estimated to cost 70 lei ($17.45) per megawatt, whereas domestic gas stored after July will cost up to 86 lei. Romania is currently liberalising its power and gas markets in stages for households and industrial consumers. A 10 percent rise in gas production costs is expected to be enforced from July 1 based on the deregulation calendar.
Meanwhile, more than 8 million households and some industrial users pay ANRE-capped power and gas prices.
The regulator routes domestically produced gas, which used to be cheaper than imports, towards households.
"If internal production prices rise by 10 percent, we will ask the providers who fuel the regulated market to ensure the lowest price, which means leaning towards imports," Havrilet said.
In May, Romgaz said Romania's falling gas consumption and cheap imports from Russia were key challenges for local producers this year.
On Monday, Havrilet also said power tariffs for households could fall by 1-2 percent from July.
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