Prime Minister Nicolae-Ionel Ciucă attended the signing ceremony of the declaration by Transgaz, OMV-Petrom, and Romgaz on the conclusion of natural gas transportation contracts

Statements by Prime Minister Nicolae-Ionel Ciucă at the signing ceremony of the declaration by Transgaz, OMV-Petrom, and Romgaz

 

Nicolae-Ionel Ciucă: Minister, Secretary–General, Madam, directors, distinguished guests, we are making today a decisive step, the penultimate in the set of demarches for the Black Sea gas exploitation, in Neptun Deep perimeter.

The signing of the document by Transgaz, OMV-Petrom, and Romgaz is a firm pledge for the development of the Tuzla-Podisor gas pipeline and the final investment decision is estimated at 4 billion euros, expected in the summer of this year. We want this strategically important project for Romania to move forward and the exploitation of natural gas from the Neptun Deep perimeter to start as soon as possible.

The offshore law is effective, which is a favorable framework for energy investments and we are thus preparing the development of the Black Sea gas transport infrastructure.

The document that has just been initialed envisages the construction of a natural gas pipeline in the Tuzla-Podisor direction with a length of over 300 kilometers. Estimated at 500 million euros, this investment will make it possible for the Podisor Technological Node to allow gas from the Black Sea to enter the national transport system and thus reach economic operators and households in the localities connected to the system.

Another benefit of this project is the connection it will make between the new sources of natural gas in the Trans-Balkan Corridor and the Vertical Corridor, which also includes the BRUA pipeline. At the level of the Government, we have made all necessary preparations for this to happen. Transgaz company signed the execution contract, the works are to kick off after the final investment decision is made by the Black Sea offshore perimeter concessionaires.

Ladies and gentlemen, the concern for increasing Romania’s energy security and ensuring energy at affordable prices for citizens and the business sector was a very important objective of the Romanian Government. We have made national and European resources available, and we have encouraged investments to increase production capacity and the development of energy transport infrastructure. We have promoted solutions to diversify the energy mix, by developing new projects in the field of renewable energy - solar, onshore and offshore wind, hydro, hydrogen - as well as speeding up small modular reactors projects, investments in Units 3 and 4 of Cernavoda NPP, the refurbishment of Unit 1 of the same plant, as well as the Cernavoda detritiation installation project.

We pay due attention to the energy transition and the achievement of climate change goals. This process must be supported by flexible and properly adjusted measures to meet the decarbonization goals, on the one hand, and to offer sufficient protection to consumers, especially the vulnerable, on the other hand.

In the next period, we will make transparent the projects financed through the REPowerEU Plan, with an allocation available to Romania of approximately 1.4 billion euros. We are preparing investments to expand and modernize the energy transport infrastructure, but also to increase energy production, especially from renewable sources.

There are all the prerequisites for Romania to become a producer of photovoltaic panels at the European level. We had consultations with investors in this field and I was pleased by their intention to develop important projects in the field of green energy production and storage technologies. They are in line with the Government's goals to facilitate the access of as many homes and public institutions as possible to clean energy produced at the lowest possible cost, which is why we have doubled the budget this year for the Green House Programme (Casa Verde).

What we managed to do in this field last year proves that Romania has the resources, the workforce, and the potential to perform in the energy sector. And this is the direction strongly supported by the Government.

I wish Transgaz success at building the gas pipeline, and also OMV-Petrom and Romgaz to announce as soon as possible the start of exploitation in the Neptun Deep offshore perimeter!