Romanian gas producers will have to trade a part of their output on the commodities market from July 1, with natural gas suppliers expected to join the initiative in 2015. OMV Petrom SA and Romgaz SA, the two largest gas producers in the European Union, will be forced to trade part of their natural gas output and the decree applies to imported gas as well, writes Bloomberg.

The measure is part of a government plan to increase transparency and liberalize the energy market.

“The natural gas market in Romania will have a reference price. It’s part of the agreement we have with IMF”, Energy Minister Razvan Nicolescu said today in Bucharest, announcing the emergency government decree, quoted by Mediafax.

A government ordinance approved on Wednesday states energy regulator ANRE will allot a certain gas production quota to be traded by producers and suppliers on the bourse each year until 2018.

In February, the government guaranteed that producers and suppliers will sell a part of their outpout on the commodity exchange. Constantin Nita, current Economy minister, said during that time that the quote could be as high as 20-30 percent of the output for producers and the total quantity estimated for sale for suppliers. 

Also on Wednesday, the government approved a plan to exempt large industrial energy users from paying up to 85 percent of their renewable energy costs for 10 years, in a bid to avoid the threat of job cuts in an election.

Business Review