The price of gas on the Romanian Commodity Exchange(BRM), with delivery this winter, reached on Tuesday a historical record of 833.533 lei/MWh, the Intelligent Energy Association (AEI) points out.
According to the Association, the price of gas cargo has increased on the BRM by 52% in the last week, standing at 13% above the price of gas on the Vienna Stock Exchange.
This decoupling exposes the untruth presented during 2021 that “prices are rising all over Europe and it is normal that they are rising here too”, AEI charges.
As for the reasons for these price increases, the Association cites the lack of specific measures for the current market situation, but also the additional demand for gas from Transgaz.
According to AEI, ANRE’s amendment of the legislation on the possibility for suppliers to renounce their gas supply license pushes small suppliers, bankrupted by the Capping Law, to no longer be able to purchase natural gas for their own consumers and to have their license withdrawn as a result of the violation of the law.
“This artificially created absurd situation throws Transgaz into the position of “Undeclared Supplier of Last Resort”, whereby it has to purchase gas for 5 days and deliver it to consumers from a supplier who, although declared that it can no longer supply gas for lack of money, is forced by ANRE laws to remain a fictitious seller for those 5 days (i.e. on paper he sells the gas, but in reality, the gas comes from Transgaz) and only afterwards can its supply license be withdrawn and legal gas delivery by a Supplier of Last Resort begin. This situation means that in a market with a shortage of resources anyway, there is an additional demand for gas from Transgaz, which must urgently purchase the gas not delivered by those suppliers who are being asked to leave the market”, explains the Association.