Neel (OMV Petrom): Romania can become largest gas producer in Europe

Romania has the opportunity to become the largest gas producer in Europe, especially through the advantages offered by the resources of the Black Sea, Franck Neel, member on the OMV Petrom Board told on Thursday a specialized debate. "OMV Petrom is based in Eastern Europe, where we want to develop the company, in terms of energy transition. In Greece we have a natural gas plant that wants to shift from the coal to the natural gas area. We have seen this in Bulgaria, where there are two similar projects. Things are moving, Romania has certain advantages, especially with the Black Sea, through which it has the opportunity to become the largest gas producer in Europe. Gas development would ensure Romania's energy security. My message is that when I look at these projects, they all come from the private sector - in Greece, Bulgaria. Looking at Romania, in the renewable energy area that OMV Petrom has developed, it has been developed mainly by the private sector. The private sector is here to help the government in the energy transition. Terms of access, regulation and regulatory stability are therefore important," Neel said. The OMV Petrom official announced that the company's Energy Strategy for 2030 will be revealed by the last quarter of this year. "By Q3-Q4 we will come with the 2030 OMV Petrom strategy. At the moment, we have discussions with supervisors on this point and, of course, in due time we will see what our strategy will be in the energy area. We deem the development in the Black Sea area as a very important one. I think there is potential in Romania. We have just received a license to supply electricity from ANRE [National Energy Regulatory Authority, ed.n.], we are the first to have this license. I see this hybrid model between gas and solar [energy]. You have the flexibility to work on these gas-fired power plants," said Franck Neel. Decision-makers in the Romanian energy industry are analyzing, on Thursday, the national, European and corporate strategies in the field within the 7th edition of the Energy Strategy Summit 2021.AGERPRES(RO - author: Daniel Badea, editor: Andreea Marinescu; EN - author: Simona Iacob, editor: Maria Voican)