Deals on the two competing platforms would stall at the low level of 2013 had OMV Petrom not auctioned a set of packages totally worth EUR17 million.
Set up last autumn after prolonged delays, the two gas bourses, managed by OPCOM (indirectly controlled by the state) and Bursa Romana de Marfuri (the Romanian Commodities Exchange, or BRM, a private company), in the first three months of trading handled deals for a quantity of just 0.05% of Romania’s annual gas consumption.
Market players’ low interest came as the price of domestic gas is still regulated and consumers are supplied with a mix containing internal and imported gas.
Despite domestic gas price deregulation, a process whereby these prices will be lifted to imported gas price level, players’ interest is still low.
OPCOM platform has witnessed no deal so far, and on the BRM platform half of this year’s volume of EUR2 million has been covered through a single offering, published by OMV Petrom, accepted by a Hungarian company.
Petrom is Romania’s second largest natural gas producer and for the time being the only one to auction gas from internal production. In February, Petrom sold through BRM gas worth almost EUR1 million, at a price of 80 lei/MWh. The buyer was MET Romania Energy Trade natural gas supplier, part of a holding 40% held by Hungary’s MOL oil group.
Following the success of this bid, the gas producer also launched other offers for the sale of another four packages, two on each of the platforms, for gas worth EUR17 million. The gas will be delivered starting April 1 at the new price of RON90/MWh.
“Deregulation is announced for October, or, according to some sources, even earlier, July”. This is how Adrian Grigore, manager of BRM’s energy, gas and CO2 certificate ring, accounts for Petrom’s rising interest in bourse deals. “Moreover, several older contracts between suppliers and producers or importers expire in March,” he adds.
The last cubic meters of gas of Petrom offers will be delivered to consumers on June 30, namely exactly before the next step in the deregulation calendar. The price of gas from domestic production will rise at that time to RON109/MWh. The last price hike stage is scheduled for October 1, when the price will go up to RON119/MWh.
At this price, gas extracted from Romania will probably still be cheaper than imported gas.
While OMV Petrom has so far been the only producer to bring its gas on the bourse, large consumers’ interest has been even lower. The exception was fertilizer producer Azomures, which has recently become the fourth company registered on the trading platform managed by OPCOM.
The Targu-Mures-based company’s annual gas consumption equals 7% of Romania’s domestic demand, and gas accounts for 85% of its production costs.
The other three companies registered on OPCOM are OMV Petrom, MET and Amromco Energy.
On the platform managed by BRM, natural gas buyers are generally small consumers, such as hospitals and local authorities.
(English version by Catalina Apostoiu)