“There are talks in the government regarding the level of royalties in the oil and natural gas sectors. These (the royalties – e.n.) could be increased before 2014, parallel with the deregulation of energy and gas prices,” the mentioned sources told Mediafax.
Romanian government has pledged to set up by end-April a calendar to deregulate tariffs in the natural gas sector. Energy prices are expected to undergo deregulation in several steps starting with this fall.
Meanwhile, the authorities will schedule meetings with the large natural gas companies to draw up a list of related taxes, royalties and regulations, according to the country’s latest letter of intent to a EUR3.6 billion loan agreement with the International Monetary Fund.
In 2011, Romania collected royalties from oil, gas and energy producers worth 1.37 billion lei (EUR313 million), a report from Ziarul Financiar showed. (EUR1=RON4.373)