Romania Eyes Polish LNG
Romania is interested in importing gas via Poland’s Swinoujscie LNG terminal, its energy ministry reported on September 19.
The ministry said it had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on the previous day with its Polish counterpart on co-operation in the energy sector, during intergovernmental talks. This co-operation could help both countries improve their energy security and diversify supply, it said.
“The Romanian side reiterated its interest in identifying the best technical solutions for providing the Romanian market with the volumes of gas that will be available via the Polish Swinoujscie terminal,” the ministry stated.
The 5bn m3/yr Swinoujscie facility has seen increasing use over the years since its start-up in December 2015. In addition to meeting domestic demand, its state-owned operator PGNiG has been looking for customers further afield. The company recently agreed to resell a batch of US LNG to a trader in Ukraine.
Romania covers around 90% of its gas consumption with domestic supply, importing the rest from Russia. But the pipelines through Romania to Turkey face an uncertain future as flows depend on the terms and conditions attached to Russian gas transit through Ukraine.
Romania has set its sights on becoming a new exporter in the 2020s, on the back of the launch of several offshore fields. But some of these developments have stalled because of unfavourable legislation. Austro-Romanian group OMV Petrom, for instance, has repeatedly delayed taking a final investment decision (FID) at its Neptun Deep project, which it says could yield 6bn m3/yr of gas.