Transgaz, Essential Involvement in the Operationalization of the Southern Gas Corridor
Romania recently participated in Baku, Azerbaijan, in the ministerial meeting of the 11th Southern Gas Corridor Advisory Council and the 3rd Green Energy Advisory Council. Representatives from 24 partner governments and 52 institutions and companies joined the event. The meeting underlined the strong commitment of the European Union and the Republic of Azerbaijan to their strategic partnership in the field of energy, which covers affordable, stable and secure natural gas supply, promotion of renewable energy, energy efficiency, hydrogen production, reduction of methane emissions and environmental protection. The Southern Corridor is intended to replace Russian natural gas volumes.
Romania cooperates excellently with Azerbaijan, having had a Strategic Partnership with this country for many years. There has always been a trustful, honest, serious and pragmatic partnership, said Ion Sterian, Director General of Transgaz, who was in Baku for the ministerial meeting of the 11th Southern Gas Corridor Advisory Council and the 3rd Green Energy Advisory Council. According to Ion Sterian, Azerbaijan will supply gas to Romania, if Romania needs it.
Regarding the Southern Gas Corridor, Transgaz’s Director General said: “Romania supports the extension of the Southern Gas Corridor to the Balkans. We had a total and essential involvement in the operationalization of this objective, through the transformation by Transgaz of the Trans-Balkan Corridor and the Transit 2 Pipeline on reverse flow, which has a capacity of 14 billion cubic meters. It will carry gas to Central and Eastern Europe, Ukraine, Moldova, Romania and Ukraine, until the Black Sea gas will be exploited, when many gas-fired power generation capacities come on stream. We have a program to connect localities to gas and we can already feel the increase in consumption. This year, a lot of distributions will be put into operation, and we will have a higher gas consumption than in the previous gas year. On April 1, we started storing natural gas, we are preparing the necessary volumes of gas, so that the coming winter does not catch us unprepared, and we can get through the cold period.”
Agenda full of meetings
In Baku, Ion Sterian met with Azerbaijani Minister of Economy Mikayil Jabbarov. He also participated in the meeting of Energy Minister Sebastian Burduja with Azerbaijani Energy Minister Parviz Shahbazov, SOCAR and Romgaz officials. The General Manager of Transgaz also had a meeting with officials of the German company Uniper who want to invest in biomethane, which will be injected into the gas transmission pipelines. Another meeting was with EBRD representatives and Romania’s Energy Minister on financial assistance programs for Romanian companies in the field of energy infrastructure.
Ion Sterian also met with his counterparts from BOTAS Turkey, FGSZ Hungary, Bulgartransgaz Bulgaria, as well as with the Energy Minister of the Republic of Moldova, Dorin Junghietu.
Azerbaijan will increase gas extraction if the EU asks
Azerbaijan is ready to increase natural gas extraction if demand from the European Union (EU) increases, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev told a ministerial meeting.
“We have to make sure that we will have demand from Europe for our gas, i.e. we have to be sure that there will be this need on the European market in the coming years,” the Azerbaijani official said. He added that “if this guarantee is not given, neither investors nor third countries will invest capital in it, it will create a shortage of natural gas (in Europe).”
The Azeri president was optimistic about the possibility of expanding the list of countries to which Azerbaijan exports gas, which currently includes 12 countries, eight of which are EU member states.
More thermal power plants commissioned in Romania
After many years of decline, Romania’s gas consumption has stabilized and started to increase slightly. It will increase even more, starting this year, with the operationalization of more local distribution networks, Transgaz’s Director General said. Currently, only about 40% of households in Romania are connected to gas. In neighbouring Hungary, the percentage is 90%.
From 2027, consumption will go up significantly as more gas-fired thermal power plants come on stream.
At the moment there are thermal power plants in various stages of construction in Mintia, Iernut, Constanta, Complexul Energetic Oltenia. Also in 2027, OMV Petrom and Romgaz start extracting the first Black Sea gas. Even so, Romania will need additional gas imports. To this end, talks may be held with countries around the Caspian Sea – primarily Azerbaijan, which can provide this additional gas.
Romania, a solid partner for regional energy security
“Romania comes with solutions, partnerships and dialog, with an active energy diplomacy. Together we are building a secure, affordable and sustainable energy future for the region and Europe,” Energy Minister Sebastian Burduja claims.
On the sidelines of the Baku ministerial meeting dedicated to the Southern Gas Corridor, the Energy Minister had a series of bilateral meetings extremely useful for Romania’s involvement in strategic energy projects in the region, but also for the development of the sector at national level.
The Romanian official met with Erik Jacobs, representative of the US Department of State, and discussed the strong energy partnership: the development of reactors 3 and 4 at Cernavoda, small modular reactors (SMRs), strengthening the transmission grid and the expansion of renewable energy production, including geothermal energy.
During the meeting with Parviz Shahbazov, Minister of Energy of Azerbaijan, they also talked about the extension of the Southern Gas Corridor, the Green Corridor project and the collaboration between Romgaz and SOCAR regarding gas supply and activities in Romania.
Romania’s Energy Minister analysed with Alparslan Bayraktar, the Turkish Energy Minister, the cooperation in the Black Sea area, in the fields of gas, nuclear and renewable energy, and presented the status of the Neptun Deep project and the potential for investments in solar and wind energy.
During the meeting with Dorin Junghietu, Energy Minister of the Republic of Moldova, the continuation of gas and electricity interconnection projects was discussed. Sebastian Burduja also met with EBRD representatives, for support in green energy investments, with a focus on the Contracts for Difference scheme, supported by memorandum since 2023, and with SOCAR management, for the expansion of activities in Romania, in the context of a successful partnership on our market.
Transgaz takes over Petrostar
Transgaz’s shareholders have recently approved the acquisition of a 51% stake in Petrostar, Romania’s leading technological engineering, design and consulting company for the oil and gas extractive industry, at a maximum price of RON 4.5 million. The operation will be carried out – either through the full subscription by Transgaz of the shares issued by Petrostar to increase the share capital by RON 4,520,143, respectively from the current RON 4,342,867 to RON 8,863,010, by issuing 57,217 new registered shares, each with a nominal value of RON 79/share, the total number of shares of the company following to be a maximum of 112,190 shares, – or through the subscription by Transgaz of the shares remaining unsubscribed and/or unpaid after the completion of the stage in which the newly issued shares are offered to the existing shareholders on the basis of their pre-emptive right and the purchase from the existing shareholders of Petrostar at a price of RON 79/share, of a number of shares necessary to hold a 51% stake in Petrostar’s share capital.
The acquisition of shares from existing shareholders of Petrostar will be carried out after the expiry of the period for the exercise of the pre-emptive right of the existing shareholders of Petrostar and after the expiry of the pre-emptive right conferred on shareholders by the bylaws with respect to the acquisition of any shares that another shareholder wishes to sell, on the basis of authenticated contracts for the transfer of shares conditional upon Transgaz obtaining a 51% stake in the share capital of Petrostar.
The Transgaz Group, made up of Romanian gas transmission operator Transgaz SA, Eurotransgaz and Vestmoldtransgaz in the Republic of Moldova, doubled its net profit last year compared to 2023, from RON 198.5 million to RON 391.4 million.
Romania, EU’s largest gas producer
Romania last year was the largest gas producer in the European Union for the first time in its history, overtaking the Netherlands in terms of reported extractions in terajoules (TJ) based on gross calorific value (GCV). Romania’s production in 2024 was almost 360 thousand TJ, while that of the Netherlands was 322.5 thousand TJ, Eurostar data show. EU gas production covered only 10% of internal consumption, one percentage point less than in 2023 (when the percentage amounted to 11%).
With the start of offshore production from Neptun Deep in 2027, domestic production will double, with Romania becoming the authoritative leader among EU gas producers.
