The price of oil rose by more than 20% since the beginning of the year, surpassing $115 per barrel, and turmoil in the Middle East and North Africa should maintain this trend in the near future, according to Hajdinjak.
Romania secures some 80% of its gas needs locally, importing the rest from Russian group Gazprom.
Hajdinjak added E.ON asked local energy regulator ANRE to increase gas prices for the end user starting April 1, but no further details were provided.
He explained that gas prices are influenced by three elements, namely the price of imported gas, the share held by imported gas in the consumption basket and the leu to dollar exchange rates. Imported gas now counts for 40% of the consumption basket, and its price rose to $410 from $380 per thousand cubic meters.
A positive element, however, in imported gas pricing, is the fact that the leu strengthened recently against the US dollar, reaching a 14-month high.