Romania’s natural gas imports down 34.7pct in H1 2023, production up 6.3pct
In H1 2023, Romania imported 696,200 tonnes of oil equivalent (toe) of usable natural gas, down 34.7% (-369,600 toe) y-o-y, according to data with the National Institute of Statistics (INS), told Agerpres.
Romania’s H1 2023 domestic production of natural gas was 3.755 million toe, up 6.3% (222,700 toe) over H1 2022.
According to estimates of the National Economic Strategy and Forecasting Board (CNSP), Romania’s natural gas production is estimated to rise at an average annual rate of 3.6% in 2023-2026, after a decrease by 1.1% (to 7.343 million toe) in 2022.
In the last forecast of the energy balance, CNSP predicts an increase in 2023 in gas production by 5.6% (to 7.755 million toe), by 2.3% (to 7.935 million toe) in 2024, by 2.7% (to 8.15 million toe) in 2025, and by 3.8% (to 8.455 million toe) in 2026.
As far as natural gas imports are concerned, a sharp decrease by 23.1% is forecast for 2023, a trend that will continue into 2026, with an average annual rate of 2.2%.
Imports of 1.845 million toe are estimated for 2023, of 1.79 million toe (minus 2.8%) in 2024, of 1.755 million toe (minus 2.1%) in 2025, and of 1.725 million toe (minus 1.8%) in 2026.
In 2022, Romania’s natural gas imports declined 16.5% to about 2.4 million toe, while exports stood at 470,000 toe.