The commitments would aim to enable natural gas exports from Romania to other member states, in particular Hungary and Bulgaria.
Following a formal investigation opened in June 2017, the Commission has concerns that Transgaz, the state-controlled gas transport infrastructure operator in Romania, may have breached EU competition rules by restricting exports of natural gas from Romania.
“Natural gas consumers across the EU should enjoy the benefits of an integrated and competitive single European energy market. We are assessing whether the commitments proposed by Transgaz would promote the free flow of natural gas in South Eastern European markets at competitive prices, in particular by connecting Romania with its neighbors Hungary and Bulgaria. We want to hear stakeholders’ views before taking any decision,” said Commissioner Margrethe Vestager, in charge of competition policy.
Transgaz has offered commitments that would allow commercially meaningful export capacities from Romania to be made available for the first time. In particular, Transgaz proposes: to increase the export capacities from 0.1 billion cubic meters to 4 billion cubic meters per year at the interconnection points with Hungary and Bulgaria and guarantee these as minimum firm capacities (i.e., capacity that cannot be interrupted); to ensure that its tariff proposal to the Romanian national energy regulator (ANRE) will not discriminate between export and domestic tariffs; and to refrain from using any other means for hampering exports.
These commitments would remain in force until the end of 2025 and a trustee would be in charge of monitoring Transgaz’ compliance with them.
The Commission invites all stakeholders to submit their views on the commitments within four weeks of their publication in the EU’s Official Journal. Taking into account all comments received, the Commission will then take a final view on whether the commitments address its competition concerns.
Romania is the third largest natural gas producer in the EU (after the Netherlands and the United Kingdom) and has significant gas reserves, including recent discoveries in the Black Sea. Currently only very limited export capacities are made available to market participants. Transgaz is the sole manager and operator of the natural gas transmission network in Romania, which includes all interconnectors with neighboring countries.