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For lack of investments, Romania's dependence on oil and gas imports will increase
Romania's dependence on oil and gas imports will increase as investments are lacking and the country will not be able to exploit the high storage potential of gas, while the modernization of natural gas and power supply networks will be halted and the heating system will face serious problems, Eric Stab, member of the boarding council of the Foreign Investors' Council (CIF) and chairman of the Working Group on Energy Issues, told a press conference on Monday.
'It is foreseen that oil and gas will account for more than half of the demand for energy in 2030. We are running out of oil and gas reserves. Romania needs substantial investments in exploiting and production operations to identify new reserves. Without additional investments in exploitation and production, the oil and gas imports will surge, leading to the decrease in the number of the employees in the economy, of state revenues, of the safety of distribution and a higher energy dependence on energy, the increase of the trade deficit,' Stab said.
According to him, the energy sector accounted for 11 percent of GDP on average over 2000-2008.
'The investments in the energy sector have surged by about 40 percent between 2008-2010, whereas the all-in investments in Romania have dropped by 27 percent in the same period. The majority were private investments and have been made in exploitation and production of oil and gas, distribution and sale of power energy and natural gas, production of power energy, including from renewable energy sources,' the CIS official explained.
He also said Romania needs investments to upgrade and/or replace the old capacities in order to boost efficiency, minimize the effects of the increase of fuel prices and cover the demand for energy in the coming decades. In addition, Eric Stab said that new oil and natural gas fields have to be exploited and the existing facilities need to be revamped to continue the stabilization of the domestic production having been on a downward trend in the last decades.