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Raw material port in Romanian Constanta on the Black Sea
Photo: Nathan Laine/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Whether in the North Sea or the Black Sea: Europe is doing a lot to emancipate itself from energy supplies from Russia using its own resources.
Now, after long disputes, Romania has cleared the way for natural gas production off its coast.
The House of Representatives in Bucharest passed a new law with a large majority that has so far kept foreign investors away from the project.
Unlike before, investors should be able to freely sell the natural gas produced in Romania in accordance with EU law.
There is no obligation to sell a portion of it in Romania.
It can only be reintroduced by government decree in the event of a crisis.
The previous obligation for natural gas investors to employ Romanian nationals for part of their workforce in Romania has also been removed, as has the obligation to purchase supplies and services exclusively from Romania or other EU countries.
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Taxes were also significantly reduced by relaxing the progressive taxation of profits.
The relevant gas price thresholds have been increased.
In addition, investors can now deduct more investments from their taxes.
The Senate, the highest chamber of parliament, had already approved the plans.
A possible complaint before the constitutional court by the nationalist opposition party AUR could delay the entry into force.
The AUR had voted against the bill in both chambers of Parliament.
It is about an estimated 100 billion cubic meters of natural gas in the Romanian part of the Black Sea continental shelf, as well as gas production projects on the mainland.
"We are certain that we can become energy independent within five years at the most," said Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca about the new regulation.
The planned law change had gained momentum since the start of Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine.
Romania currently imports 20 to 30 percent of its gas needs from Russia.
According to Economics Minister Virgil Popescu, Romania will in future produce more gas than the country consumes.
In the future, Romania could absorb large parts of the business that Gazprom has been doing up to now in Central and Eastern Europe.
A subsidiary of the Austrian energy group OMV and several other gas producers had already invested in the production of natural gas off the Romanian coast for several years.
However, the high taxes that were then introduced reportedly stalled investment.
Recently, Black Sea Oil and Gas, at least one resource company, has pushed ahead with the preparation of production again.
apr/dpa
