Energy & Environment
Russian official thinks Nabucco is a political project lacking any commercial value
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Foreign Affairs Committee President Konstantin Kosachev of the Russian Parliament argues that unlike South Stream, Nabucco is a political project that lacks any commercial value. However, former Russian PM Mikhail Kasianov believes that the two projects are intertwined. Kosachev argues that Nabucco will not be able to find enough gas to be able to transport it in Europe. An American expert however contradicts his Russian colleague, declaring quite the contrary. He added that the fact that ...
MOL Romania sales dropped by 3% in 2007
Thursday, April 10, 2008
The MOL subsidiary in Romania registered a drop of 2.9% last year for fuel sales, mainly as an effect of the number of filling stations, according to the company data . But at the same time, in 2007, the average volume of commercialised fuels for each filling station advanced by 7.8%. Romania is for MOL the third retail market, after Hungary and Slovakia, but the share on the local market dropped in 2006 from 14.4% to 12.6% according to the annual report of the oil operator owned by the ...
Electrica will take over Hidroelectrica and Rovinari and Turceni shares
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Electrica will take over the shares of Rovinari, Turceni and Hidroelectrica – the last one going from MEF to AVAS in order to set up a national energy company, according to an AVAS project. At the same time, according to the draft government decision, drawn up by AVAS, the authority will be empowered to mandate its representatives in the extraordinary general meeting of the shareholders of Electrica SA, the Complex Energetic Rovinari and Complexul Energetic Turceni to approve all necessary ...
Standard&Poor’s dropped the rating for Hidroelectrica from positive to stable
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Standard & Poor’s revised by dropping the rating perspective for Hidroelectrica from „ positive” to „ stable” due to reduced liquidity and delay of the public offer which had to take place this year. At the same time, the agency for financial evaluation confirmed the „”BB” for the long-term debt of the company. „The revision of the rating to stable reflects the low liquidity of Hidroelectrica, being determined by the fact that the initial public bid which had to take place in ...
Electricity suppliers trust the Romanian market
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Some 49.4 percent of the electricity suppliers trust the Romanian energy market, according to the results of a poll made public by the Association of Romanian Electricity Suppliers (AFEER) and SC Power Advisors SRL.The poll also reveals that the Romanian electricity market is more stable, increasingly transparent and competitive, and is mainly oriented towards the petty industrial consumers.The poll has been conducted on 39 electricity suppliers, representing almost half of the operators on ...
Romania's uranium reserves are enough for one decade
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Romania's current uranium reserves are sufficient for a decade, Economy and Finance Minister Varujan Vosganian told a conference on the capital market, on last Thursday.Even if exploration's results are not encouraging, Romania can later look for foreign markets, where the pressure is not so tough as that on the crude oil market, Vosganian said.After 2014, Romania becomes independent in terms of electricity, the single problem remaining to supply uranium after 2018, Minister Vosganian ...
Marine Rompetrol terminal will operate as of October
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Rompetrol group, taken over by state-owned Kazakh company KazMunaiGas, plans to unload the first ship at the Midia marine terminal at the end of October. “If this terminal is used at 82 percent capacity, meaning 300 days a year, we will unload 100 ships annually of some 160,000 tons each,” said Rompetrol officials.The terminal will be an access point for the future Constanta-Trieste oil conduit, the former valuated at some €90 million, according to Rompetrol. The project began in June ...
Romanian Coal Miners To Get 28% Salary Hike This Year
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Romanian miners with the national coal mining company SNLO will increase some 28% this year, said union leader Viorel Temelescu, head of the negotiating committee. Temelescu said this Sunday that following negotiations, miners’ average salaries would increase to some RON2,500 from the current RON2,000, and employees would benefit from new bonuses. Company general manager Eugen Davidoiu said all the bonuses and raises would be paid from coal sales to coal-fired power plants. SNLO estimates to ...
Romania may triple energy produced from renewable sources by 2020
Thursday, March 27, 2008
The national production of energy from renewable sources may reach 171 TWh by 2020, from 53 TWh in 2005, if important investment is made in the sector, the President of the Romanian National Institute for the Study of Energy Sources (IRE), Jean Constantinescu has said. He believes that the quantity of power generated from hydrological sources may double by 2020, reaching 40-44 TWh, while the energy obtained from biomass could go up from 32.2 TWh to 88 TWh in the same period. The IRE ...
Electrica to make investment, along with Warmebetriebe, in biomass-fuelled power stations
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Electrica Co., owned by the Romanian state, intends to set up, along with Austrian Warmebetriebe Co., a station production electricity and thermal energy, Saptamana Financiara weekly writes.Electrica is currently waiting for the okay of Privatization Authority AVAS, for the project.Around one billion euros would be invested in ten biomass-fuelled stations. Electrica strategy and development manager Bogdan Badea said green energy has become a priority in the investment schedule for the coming ...
Romania’s Planned Energy Holding Could Start Ops By May 1 – Official
Thursday, March 27, 2008
The Romanian government could approve the decision setting up the country’s planned energy giant before May 1, and the company could be registered and start operating by that time, Teodor Atanasiu, head of the privatization agency AVAS, told a news conference this Sunday.Atanasiu said he discussed over the past week the plan for the state-owned vertically integrated energy company with economy and finance minister Varujan Vosganian and Prime Minister Calin Tariceanu.“I will present it, ...
Ukraine might reduce gas deliveries to Poland and impact energy market in Romania, Hungary and Slovakia
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Starting April this year, Ukraine might reduce gas transit deliveries to Poland, Polish daily Gazeta Wyborcza warns, quoted by RBK Daily. According to report, the Kiev government placed an interdiction on the RosUkrEnergo company to provide gas for exports. Polish experts estimate a reduction of gas suppliers both for Poland but also for Romania, Hungary and Slovakia. According to experts, RUE does not have the necessary capacity to honor its contractual obligations and cannot thus ...
Petrom plans to borrow half a billion euro for investments
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Romania’s largest company, Petrom, owned by Austrian OMV oil company, plans to borrow up to €500 million to finance its investment program.The loan requires approval from OMV, which could get involved in the process, according to Petrom General Manager Mariana Gheorghe.Mariana Gheorghe also indicated that the loan could have an impact on the entire OMV group. “Depending on financial operational results, to continue financing investments, we will also need external funding,” Mariana Gheorghe ...
E.ON Moldova needs investments of one bln euros
Thursday, March 27, 2008
E.ON Moldova distribution system is in need of one billion euros in investments to rise to the standard of the European distribution networks, stated on Wednesday E.ON Moldova Distribution Catalin Dragoi, on the occasion of a seminar on energy issues.'Investments of one billion euros are needed to upgrade the distribution services in Moldova, to have a better quality grid, similar to the ones in more developed countries', stressed Catalin Dragoi.German E.ON Energie Co. took over in 2005 a ...
Distrigaz Sud: €1 bln in net sales in 2007
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Romania’s top gas distribution company, Distrigaz Sud, controlled by Gaz de France, is forecasting turnover worth €1 billion in 2007, up 9 percent year-on-year, when it posted net sales worth RON 3.2 bln (€910 million). The rise in turnover is due to an increase in the price of gas in 2007, the process of aligning utility prices in the European Union space, and the effect of expanding its client and network portfolio.“Last year, we had turnover of RON 3.3 bln. This year our forecast will ...
Electrica Muntenia Sud Sale To Enel To Be Completed May - Jun
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Italian utility Enel SpA (EN) will fully take over regional power distributor Electrica Muntenia Sud in May or June the latest, an Electrica manager said Wednesday.The Romanian authorities agreed to sell the Romanian company to Enel in 2006 but finalization of the process has been postponed several times due to various technicalities.Enel agreed in 2006 to pay EUR820 million for a 67.5% stake in Electrica Muntenia Sud. The Italian company will pay EUR394.8 million for a 51% stake in ...
Romania’s Cap City Needs EUR1B Invest For Electric Network Devt
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Romania’s capital city Bucharest needs EUR1 billion investments in developing the electric networks in the next four or five years, due to increasing electric power consumption, director general with Romanian state-owned power grid Electrica Serban Tudor said Wednesday.The high electric power consumption is fueled by the development of the real estate sector.Tudor said the annual average electric power consumption annually increases by up to 100%, unlike a 3% or 4% hike countrywide. The ...
Romanian PM Asked Ministries For Pollution Reduction Plans
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Romanian Prime Minister Calin Tariceanu said Wednesday in the opening of the cabinet meeting that measures to lower CO2 emissions will be started in the central and local administration structures.He added he asked several ministries to come up with plans to cut down on pollution.The prime minister asked the economy and finance minister to draft a program aimed at lowering CO2 emissions resulted from the heating of public administration buildings.Tariceanu also asked the Ministries of ...
Romania backs Project Nabucco in European Spring Council
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Romania is loyal to EU's energy projects and is a firm supporter of Nabucco project said on last Friday at the end of the European Spring Council President Traian Basescu.The head of state said that Romania backs EU's decision of finding an alterative to the energy resources, not as an attempt to replace the current providers, but as a move to create a minimal competition.'There is a certain competition among Nabucco and Southstream, but both are meant to bring gas from the Caspian region,' ...
Romania counts on its nuclear energy development
Thursday, March 20, 2008
A second nuclear plant in Romania will have among two to four reactors that will be built starting with 2020. Romania currently holds two functional reactors at its Cernavoda nuclear plant and plans to finish works for another two. Some 12% of the Romania's energy need is assured through the Cernavoda nuclear plant. Nucleaelectrica director Teodor Chirica presented on this Monday more details about the new nuclear plants Romania plans to set up. He argues that Romania will need another ...