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Energy & Environment
Business and Commission in plea for Nabucco pipeline
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Top officials at the Commission and one of Central Europe's largest oil and gas groups yesterday (2 July) called for progress to be made on the Nabucco project, which aims to reduce Europe's dependency on Russian gas supplies. But they warned that its realisation would depend on "foreign policy scenarios".A good side to high oil prices Speaking at a round table organised by the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS), Wolfgand Ruttenstorfer, the CEO of OMV, and Mathias Ruete, ...
OMV, Rompetrol, Petrom To Operate 10 Gas Stations On Newest Highway
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Romanian Ministry of Transportation selected Tuesday Austria’s OMV, local Rompetrol Group NV, and Petrom SA oil companies for the construction of the ten gas stations on Bucharest-Constanta Highway, the Highway Company’s director Dorin Debucean said.OMV and Rompetrol will operate four gas stations each, and Petrom two gas stations.CNADNR leases a 3,000-meter area.The lease contract has a 29-year maximum deadline, and the winning companies will ensure the fuel supply by mobile gas units for ...
Nuclear debate continues to stir up controversy
Thursday, July 10, 2008
The role that nuclear should play in the EU's energy mix was the topic of heated debate at a 2 July Brussels conference that tackled a number of issues, including nuclear financing, safety and waste management.The event was organised by the European Movement, a platform for pro-European and non-governmental organisations, and featured a range of panellists including MEPs and representatives of industry and a pro-nuclear environmental NGO.A show of hands at the beginning of the event ...
G8 urged to do more for climate
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Five of the biggest emerging economies have urged leading industrial nations to do more to combat climate change. Mexico, Brazil, China, India and South Africa challenged the Group of Eight countries to cut their greenhouse gas emissions by more than 80% by 2050. The so-called G5 countries threw down the gauntlet in a statement before they joined the G8 summit in Japan. Earlier, the G8 restated a lower target of 50% cuts over the same period, which environmentalists said was "pathetic". The ...
Iancu : President Basescu was open to the set up of a joint Romgaz-Gazprom company
Thursday, July 3, 2008
President Traian Basescu was open to cooperation with Russia in the domain of natural gas which could mean the expansion of the storage capacity which would also include the project Roman-Margineni and the set up of a joint company Romgaz-Gazprom Iulian Iancu stated on Wednesday for NewsIn.The chairman of the Commission for Industries in the Deputies’ Chamber Iulian Iancu met on Wednesday at Cotroceni Palace with the head of state to whom he presented a set of measures what should be taken ...
Romanian Privatization Agency Cancels Mining Co Sale To Comply With EU Rules
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Romania’s privatization agency AVAS cancelled its offer to sell mining company Cupru Min Abrud and will modify and update the company’s presentation file after the European commission decided sale plans breached state aid rules.The European Commission said some of the conditions the agency attached to the sale, such as maintaining the company’s activity for at least ten years and mandatory investments, could result in a lower sale price.To avoid elements that qualify as state aid, ...
Romanian Distrigaz Sud To Ask For 20% Gas Price Hike Oct 1
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Gas distributor Distrigaz Sud, majority-owned by French utility Gaz de France, will ask Romanian energy watchdog ANRE to hike gas prices by some 20% on October 1, given that imported natural gas price will continue to increase by yearend, Distrigaz Sud general manager, Bernard Arnaud, said Tuesday."We will continue to report losses and we will ask for their recovery as soon as possible. The company reported 80 million lei (EUR1= 3.6475) losses since the beginning of the year and it will ...
Nabucco Pipeline Users Entitled To 25-Yrs Exemptions
Thursday, July 3, 2008
The gas beneficiary companies from Nabucco pipeline will be exempted from complying with the law on third party access to transport system or pricing methodology on a 25-year period, the National Energy Watchdog ANRE said Tuesday.The exemption terms is subject to maximum 50% of the total annual capability technically available, or to 15 billion cubic meters per year utmost, ANRE said in a decision published in the Official Gazette.The pricing methodology is to be enforced, equally ...
Petrom interested in exporting gas through the Szeged-Arad pipeline
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Petrom, the largest local oil company, controlled by Austrian OMV group, is interested in exporting gas through the Szeged-Arad pipeline, which will connect the local network to the European gas transit network.The pipeline is to become operational in early 2010, and will have a maximum transport capacity of 4.4 billion cubic meters, about one quarter of Romania’s annual gas consumption. The project has been repeatedly postponed, although all specialists agree that the pipeline would ...
GE negotiates with Petrom and Electrica for eolian energy equipment
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Some of the most important local developers of wind energy projects, Electrica, Petrom and Iberdrola, have approached the local branch of General Electric (GE) to make offers to supply equipment to begin investments in the eolian energy sector, said GE Energy Country Executive Manager for Romania, Bulgaria and Moldova, Carmen Neagu.Carmen Neagu added that GE hopes to sign the agreement with Good Energies and Continental Wind Partner to deliver eolian turbines. The two companies ...
Hydro power plants posted daily gross profit of €273,000 in first four months
Thursday, June 19, 2008
State-owned Hidroelectrica, the cheapest local electricity producer, posted gross profit worth RON 159.7 million (€44 mln), almost double that in the first quarter of 2008, according to Traian Oprea, General Manager.The hydro power plant posted daily gross profit exceeding RON 1 million (€273,000). This means Hidroelectrica’s profit during the first four months of 2008, at RON 12.5 mln (€3.7 mln), is almost 13 times higher than that in Q1 2007. According to Oprea, the company produced 8 ...
Termoelectrica, E.ON and Enel signed agreement to build a thermal power plant in Braila, South East Romania
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Termoelectrica, E.ON Kraftwerke and Enel consortium signed on Wednesday an memorandum of understanding to start building up a thermal power plant in Braila, South East Romania, a common press release shows. The agreement presumes setting up a joint company between the three interested parties to develop the project at Braila.The project will make use of all existent assets in Braila that are currently operational. Within the joint company, the Romanian state company will share its ...
Romania’s Jan-Apr Power Output Up 4.1% On Year, Resources Up 2%
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Romania’s power output rose 4.1% on the year in January-April, while the country’s total power resources rose 2% on the year in the same period of 2008, the National Statistics Institute said last Thursday.Power output grew to 8.35 million tons of oil equivalent in the first four months of the year, while the country’s power resources reached 13.78 million toe in the same period, the institute said. Thermal power output dropped 6.5% in Jan-Apr from the corresponding period a year ...
European energy traders, displeased with licensing process in Romania
Thursday, June 12, 2008
The licensing process of the traders on the Romanian market is over-regulated and useless, because it disregards the realities of the energy market in Europe, Jan Haitzmann, secretary general of legal committee with the European Federation of Energy Traders, told on Thursday the Bucharest-held Energy Trading forum.'In Romania, once can be licensed to trade in energy with a foreign entity if there are bilateral contracts with the country of origin of the respective company, but ...
Enel, most important player in Romania's electricity distribution
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Italian group Enel on June 5 obtained the full managerial control over Electrica Muntenia Sud, thus becoming the biggest player on the segment of electricity distribution and generation in Romania, Ziarul financiar daily announced on Friday.The finalization of the privatization of Electrica Muntenia Sud was announced after the meeting of all the conditions stipulated in the privatization contract, signed on June 11, 2007. The total value of the transaction amounts to 820 million ...
Slovene reactor scare puts spotlight on nuclear safety
Thursday, June 12, 2008
A coolant leak at a nuclear power plant in Slovenia has been contained, but the incident has brought renewed attention to the debate over whether nuclear offers a safe low-carbon option in the fight against climate change.Slovenian authorities have confirmed that there has been no discharge to the environment. The situation can be considered fully under control," the Commission said in a press statement today (5 June).The leak, which occurred yesterday (4 June) in the main reactor ...
IEA calls for energy technology 'revolution'
Thursday, June 12, 2008
As current levels of carbon emissions approach "unsustainable levels", the International Energy Agency (IEA) has released a report urging governments to implement a "global energy technology revolution" to reverse existing trends.The report, entitled "Energy Technology Perspectives 2008" and released on 6 June, indicates that if countries continue with their existing policies, global carbon emissions will rise by 130% whilst oil demand will increase by 70% by 2050. If these ...
Romania, Bulgaria In Talks To Link Gas Pipelines
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Romania's state-owned gas pipeline operator Transgaz Medias and Bulgarian state-owned gas pipeline operator Bulgargaz are in talks on an inter-grid connection for the pipelines in the two neighboring countries, Focus News reported.The connection takes into account two options, the longest of which has a 20-kilometer length. The other option considered is a link crossing the border at Ruse-Giurgiu.Bulgargaz thus joins the plan of Hungary’s MOL to connect gas pipeline systems across ...
One third on natural gas to be consumed this June comes from import
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Romania's consumption of natural gas this June is estimated at 839.813 million cu m, with 33 percent of this amount coming from import, reads a report on the demand of natural gas and the gas sources, drawn up by Transgaz and submitted to the Natural Regulatory Authority in Energy.Romania's current production of natural gas is put at 680.406 million cu m, and that for storage at 254.273 million cu m. Current imports will stand at 259.406 million cu m, and import for storage at ...
Romgaz taps electricity production
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Gas distribution company Romgaz plans to enter the market of electricity production by building a power plant with a capacity of 100 to 300 MW, financed exclusively from its own resources.'We want to invest, build a new power plant located near an industrial facility that will buy the generated steam, which is usually seen as residual product and goes wasted in the atmosphere,' company director general Francisc Toth told Business Standard.According to the cited paper, the ...