MP Drafts Law Banning Romania’s Would-Be Natural Gas Exports

"Export would be a coup de grace for the Romanian economy. Thorugh this law, Romania will no longer be able to export natural gas, until resources are diversified," Iancu said.

At the moment, Romania cannot export natural gas to other states, because it does not have the pipeline connections to do so. There is a pipeline connecting Romania to Hungary, but it can only be used for imports.

Romania draws almost all of its natural gas imports from Russia, through intermediaries. The pipeline from Hungary imports minute amounts compared to consumption.

Gas source diversification would be possible for Romania through the completion of the Nabucco and AGRI pipelines, but neither of these projects will be functional for another several years.

The largest local gas producers are OMV Petrom (SNP.RO) and Romgaz Medias. OMV Petrom recently announced it will sell its gas abroad if regulation is maintained on the local market.

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