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Energy & Environment
Petrom and Rafo - worst polluters
Thursday, November 23, 2006
Since the beginning of the year, Romania recorded 84 accidental pollution cases, with a peak in October. The top of the nature-unfriendly companies is led by two oil companies, SNP Petrom and Rafo Onesti, followed by SC Suintest and the Bacau Penitentiary, a release from the Environment Ministry shows.Most accidents took place near the Siret basin (39), followed by Mures (13), Buzau-Ialomita (7) and Arges-Vedea (6).Most accidents come from evacuating residual waters in irrigation ...
National environmental authority fines Mittal Steel Galati company
Thursday, November 23, 2006
The National Guard for Environment fined steel maker Mittal Steel based in Galati (eastern Romania) 100,000 lei (about 28,500 euros) and proposed the suspension of the company's environmental authorisation, which means the steel mill might stop activity for not having met its commitments on the investments in environmental protection. The Environmental Guard said it had found in this July that some of the measures called for in a compliance programme for the High-Melting Steel ...
Reactors 3 and 4 of Cernavoda nuclear power plant to be commissioned in 2013
Thursday, November 23, 2006
Reactors 3 and 4 of the nuclear power plant in Cernavoda, south-east of Bucharest, will be commissioned in 2013, Gabriel Burlacu, adviser with the Ministry of Economy and Trade, told on Friday a EU-COFILE seminar, organized Nov. 15-19 in Sinaia by Alpha Bank, Romania's Central Bank and the Romanian Association of Banks.The building at the same time of the two reactors costs 2.2 billion euros.Burlacu said that the atomic energy produced by all the four reactors of the plant in Cernavoda will ...
Over 45 billion kWh of electricity produced in first nine months of 2006
Thursday, November 23, 2006
Romania's electricity output over January 1-September 30, 2006 stood at 45.65 billion kWh, up 3.6 percent compared to the amount produced in the corresponding period one year ago (1.63 billion kWh), according to figures supplied by the National Statistics Institute (INS). The biggest amount was produced in classic power plants - 26.339 billion kWh (up 13 percent compared to 2005) and in hydro-power plants - 15.171 billion kWh (down 3.3 percent. The Cernavoda-based nuclear power plant ...
Romania to join pollution reduction actions in extended Mediterranean basin
Thursday, November 23, 2006
Romania will actively participate in the implementation of actual measures for reducing pollution in the extended basin of the Mediterranean Sea, particularly as far as the Black Sea is concerned, Romanian Minister of the Environment Sulfina Barbu told the third meeting of the environmental ministers of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership held on Monday in Cairo. According to a press release issued by the Romanian Ministry of the Environment and Water Management, the meeting adopted a ...
Energy makes headway in EU foreign policies
Thursday, November 23, 2006
This proposal will be issued at the end of November to incorporate energy issues in all of the EU's relations with neighbouring countries, External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner has announced. The EU-Russia summit on 24 November will address energy issues as a top priority. Discussions will centre on the renewal of a ten-year-old Co-operation and Partnership Agreement expected to cover the areas of energy, trade and human rights.EU efforts are concentrating on getting Russia ...
Wind energy, a profitable resource
Thursday, November 23, 2006
Wind energy is a renewable source of energy. The wind energy European market is growing, with a growth rhythm higher than any other energy domain. Wind energy cannot replace the other forms of energy, only as an option in the group of existing possibilities, part of a energy mix. The main advantage offered by wind energy : a permanently renewable source of energy. Electrical energy production having as source wind energy does not pollute. Necessary investment is almost 1 million euroMW ...
Romania to exceed in 2007 bio-fuel production imposed by European Union
Thursday, November 23, 2006
The European Union norms stipulate that Romania should produce in 2007 at least 100,000 tonnes of bio-fuel, and until 2010 the output should exceed 300,000 tonnes of bio-fuel. Romania is set to overtake these values, provisions for 2007 forecasting a production of 400,000 tonnes of bio-fuel, announced the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Rural Development (MAPDR). As such, Romania is to align to the Kyoto Protocol's requirements, underlining that the utilization of bio-fuels ...
Industrial companies producing less polluting emissions offered financial incentives
Thursday, November 23, 2006
The entry into the European carbon market will fetch revenues of over 150 million euros to industrial companies in Romania that produce less polluting emissions. In 2005, the gas emissions in Romania were around 40 percent under the level stipulated in Kyoto Protocol, but with a growth potential of 4 percent annually. The National Plan for allocating certificates for greenhouse gas emissions includes 250 big polluters. Starting in 2007, these companies will trade certificates ...
Fitch keeps Rompetrol NV rating to B-
Thursday, November 23, 2006
The financial rating agency Fitch announced on Monday that they keep the rating of the Dutch Rompetrol NV Group at B- and stable perspective attributed to the oil compay with most operations in Romania. The rating reflects the favourable plasement of the refinery, the aggressive strategy they have on the financial level, as well as the geographical diversity of the group’s actions, obtained through the acquisition of the French Dyneff, at the beginning of 2006, which generated an increase ...
Rompetrol seeks investors for re-capitalization and capital expenditure program
Thursday, November 23, 2006
Rompetrol Group, that performs oil refining, production, marketing and trading activities, commissioned Morgan Stanley Bank to identify investors interested in acquiring 10 to 25 percent of the Netherlands-registered mother company The Rompetrol Group (TRG) BV, with a view to re-capitalizing and financing its investment program worth an estimate of one billion US dollars (some 800 million euros) that spans the next 3 - 5 years. The amount drawn in from investors could range between 150 ...
Romania's coal output close to 40 million tons in 2020
Thursday, November 23, 2006
Romania's coal output will reach 33.651 million tons by the end of the current year, up 2.87 tons against 2005, and is planned to attain 39.143 million tons in 2020, reads the mining industry draft strategy for the interval 2006-2020.The projected milestones for the coal output are as follows: 2007 - 34.776 million tons; 2008 - 36.401 million tons; 2009 - 37.783 million tons; 2010 - 38.443 million tons; 2015 - 41.143 million tons.According to forecasts, the net pitcoal production will be ...
HSE to open subsidiary in Romania
Thursday, November 23, 2006
Holding Slovenske Elektrarne (HSE) - biggest electricity generator in Slovenia - will open a subsidiary in Romania for developing the relevant market in Central and Eastern Europe.The subsidiary in Romania will increase HSE's trade with electricity, say the company's officials.HSE announced recently that a high-voltage power line would function between Slovenia and Hungary, and the Hungarian subsidiary would make transactions with electricity. Moreover, HSE will participate in tenders for ...
Romania to import 50 percent of necessary natural gas in 2015
Thursday, November 23, 2006
Romania will import 50 percent of the natural gas it needs in 2015, compared with 30 percent now, Chairman of the National Agency for Mineral Resources Gheorghe Buliga said at a forum on energy in South and Central Europe, held in Bucharest. "Our estimates say in 2015 we will supply 50 percent of the natural gas from home, vs. the current 70 percent," Buliga said. According to him, despite the problems Romania has been facing in point of energy independence, she can overcome them ...
Romania will become dependent on electrical energy import in 2012
Thursday, November 23, 2006
The lack of projects for the efficiency of electrical energy production and for new energy resources will lead to Romania’s dependence on electrical energy import in 2012, stated the director general of the Institute for Studies and Projects in Energy (ISPE) Dan Ioan Gheorghiu during the forum dedicated to energy in central and eastern Europe. “ The implementation of energy projects lasts up to five years, thus, if we propose a project today, we will see any results in 2012. Unless we take ...
Domestic issues in the energy sector
Thursday, November 23, 2006
Present on Tuesday at a conference organised by Forum Invest with the title « Energy in Central and Eastern Europe », the head of state highlighted the main issues affecting the energy policy of Romania. The first being the necessity to modernise production units and transport units existing at the moment. “ Thermal power plants are the first to be modernised to increase efficiency, and for these workings we expect the involvement of the private sector for the units in Isalnita, Turceni or ...
Petrom intends to invest up to one billion euros in 2007
Thursday, November 23, 2006
Petrom will invest up to one billion euros next year in order to make Romania's oil and gas production more secure, while by 2010 the investments will exceed 3 billion euros, a company's release informs. "Being the biggest Romanian company, Petrom is committed to get involved in the general concept and in the development of the national energy strategy. The safety of the energy supply and the sustainable management of the energy resources are a continuous concern both for the Romanian ...
The provisions in the Petrom privatization contract endangered Romania’s national safety, deputy Aurelian Pavelescu considers
Thursday, November 23, 2006
The provisions in the Petrom privatisation contract endangered Romania’s national safety, the circuit of judicial documents and the circuit of legislative process in Romania, independent deputy Aurelian Pavelescu stated on Wednesday in a press conference. No responsible government could take such obligations through a trade contract, Pavelescu said, who claims having obtained the contract unofficially. In his opinion, these provisions lead to the annulation of the contract ( ...
CSAT approved the analysis of energy company privatisation contracts
Thursday, November 23, 2006
Traian Basescu announced on Wednesday, that the Ministry of Economy was required by CSAT to declassify and analyse all privatisation contracts of the energy companies, by their agreement, and the state institutions,including the Prosecutors’ Office, to analyse their correctness. The head of state announced that the Ministry of Economy was mandated by CSAT to inform the parties involved that all privatisation contracts, Petrom and the other electrical energy and gas distribution companies be ...
Romanian energy producing companies are ready for EU market after accession
Thursday, November 16, 2006
The big Romanian energy producing and shipping companies are prepared to cope with the competition in the European Union after the accession, Darius Mesca, Secretary of State with the Ministry of Economy and Trade (MEC), told Rompres on Thursday. "Luckily for our country, the big companies working in the energy sector are already in advanced stages of implementing some projects that make it possible for them not to have much difficulty as regards the shipment and even the production and ...