“I have notified the European Council that Romania will rethink its energy policies based on its own resources. No doubt, Romania must speed up the evaluation procedures and move to drill for shale gas, as well as for gas and oil at the already confirmed blocks in the Black Sea,” Basescu said after a meeting of the European Council in Brussels.
He said Romania could start commercial exploitation of Black Sea and shale gas reserves within four years, before the proposed Nabucco pipeline would have been operational.
Romania is a shareholder of the Nabucco West pipeline project, which was supposed to link Turkey to Austria, offering a new delivery route for gas to Europe and thus reducing European dependence on Russian gas.
Azerbaijan was supposed to be one of the main suppliers for Nabucco West, but the consortium developing Azerbaijan’s Shah Deniz-2 field has opted for rival Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) to ship its gas to the European market.
The Nabucco partners Friday admitted the rejection was a setback in implementing the project and said they would discuss the next steps in the following period.
As for Romania, the country will be focusing on new scenarios to increase its energy independence, the Economy Ministry said earlier this week.
“The Romanian authorities are examining various scenarios regarding the development of the South Corridor, including hydrocarbon exploitation in the Black Sea and the development of shale gas fields,” the ministry said in a statement.
It said the proposed Azerbaijan–Georgia–Romania Interconnector (AGRI) pipeline project would remain priority.
The AGRI pipeline is expected to transport Azerbaijani natural gas to Romania, via Georgia. The project is estimated at EUR1.2 billion to EUR4.5 billion, depending on the final transport capacity.