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Energy & Environment
Reuters: Hungary calls on U.S. to spur Exxon gas project in Black Sea
Thursday, February 14, 2019
The United States could help Hungary diversify away from Russian energy by encouraging ExxonMobil to proceed with long-stalled plans to develop the Domino-1 gas field in the Black Sea, Hungary’s foreign minister said. Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto discussed diversification of Hungary’s natural gas imports with U.S. Secretary of Energy Rick Perry on Wednesday, the ministry said on Thursday. He asked Perry to do what he could to facilitate the start of production ...
Euro Sun Mining drops gold mining project in Romania
Thursday, February 14, 2019
Canadian mining company Euro Sun Mining (formerly Carpathian Gold), the owner of the Rovina gold project in Romania, has renounced its planned private placement of shares under which it hoped to raise up to CAD 10 million to fund the project in Romania. The decision was taken “due to the difficult market conditions”. The company, which recently obtained the approval of the Romanian Government for the exploitation of the gold mine in Rovina, the second largest in ...
Competition Council approves takeover of 9 OMV Petrom's licences by Mazarine Energy
Thursday, February 14, 2019
Romania's competition authority said on Thursday it has approved the takeover of nine local onshore oil and gas fields belonging to oil and gas group OMV Petrom by Mazarine Energy Romania for an undisclosed sum. "Following a review of the transaction, the Competition Council found that it does not raise significant obstacles to effective competition in the market, in particular by establishing or strengthening of a dominant position," the anti-trust authority said in a ...
Romania's presidency of EU Council gets mandate to kick off negotiations on natural gas Directive's revision
Thursday, February 14, 2019
Romania's presidency to the EU Council has recorded a remarkable breakthrough by getting mandate to initiate negotiations with the European Parliament in relation to one of the most sensitive and important legislative files of the EU agenda - the revision of the natural gas Directive, a release by the Romanian gov't informs.The approach initiated by Romania's presidency of the EU Council benefited a broad support from the member states, adds the source."The file was ...
Electricity distribution operators announce investments of RON 1.6 billion in 2019
Thursday, February 14, 2019
Electricity distribution operators have said they would carry out total investments worth approximately RON 1.6 billion in 2019, the National Regulatory Authority for Energy (ANRE) announced in a press release. “In the application of the regulatory framework, which established firm obligations for the electricity distribution operators, the concessionaires for realizing the undertaken investments, they submitted to ANRE their investment plans for 2019. From their statements, we ...
Romanians reduced their electricity consumption by 15 pct in 2 years on expanding energy-efficient home devices
Thursday, February 14, 2019
Romania’s households have reduced their electricity consumption by more that 15 percent during the last couple of years, the largest drop seen in decades, as people are buying more energy-efficient devices and improve their homes in order to pay lower bills. The households’ electricity consumption declined by 11.2 percent in 2018 to 10.17 TWh, the second drop in a row. In 2017, households’ electricity consumption decreased by 5.1 percent to 11.45 TWh, following a ...
FITCH UPGRADES ENEL’S LONG-TERM RATING TO “A-” AND MAINTAINS THE SHORT-TERM RATING AT “F-2”. STABLE OUTLOOK
Thursday, February 14, 2019
Fitch Ratings (“Fitch”) announced that it has upgraded its long-term rating of Enel S.p.A. (“Enel” or the “Company”) to “A-” from its previous level of “BBB+”. The agency maintained its short-term rating for Enel at “F-2”. The outlook remains stable. The rating agency recognised Enel’s strong track record of delivery on the Group’s challenging operational and financial objectives in the period between ...
Oil Terminal reported low financial results in 2018 compared to 2017
Thursday, February 14, 2019
Oil Terminal, the company that operates the oil terminal from Constanta, has reported a turnover of RON 145.96 million in 2018, down by RON 7.63 million compared to 2017, http://business-review.eu informs. The company’s 2018 net profit was RON 317,000, down by RON 2 million compared to the report for the first nine months of 2018. The state owns 59.62 percent of Oil Terminal through the Ministry of Energy. The company ...
Environmental taxes in the EU: countries compared în 2017
Thursday, February 14, 2019
Government revenues from environmental taxes amounted to €369 billion in 2017 in the European Union (EU), compared with €264 billion in 2002. Over the same period, the share of ...
PRIMARY ENERGY RESOURCES rise 2.3pct in 2018
Thursday, February 14, 2019
- In 2018, primary energy resources increased by 0.9%, while those of electricity stood at the same level as compared to previous year. End-consumption of electricity in 2018 was 55.881 billion kWh, by 2.3pct higher than in the previous year, with public lighting decreasing by 5.5pct and the consumption by the population declining by 11.2pct, according to data released on Tuesday by the National Institute of Statistics.Exports of electricity exceeded 5.478 ...
Black Sea Oil & Gas announces USD 400m investment in Midia block, expects removal of all new taxes and fees
Thursday, February 14, 2019
Black Sea Oil & Gas SRL (“BSOG”) together with its co-venture partners, Petro Ventures Resources SRL (“Petro Ventures”) and Gas Plus International B.V. (“Gas Plus”) are pleased to announce that they have approved the Final Investment Decision (“FID”), to proceed with the $400 million Midia Gas Development Project (“MGD Project”), offshore Black Sea, romaniajournal.ro informs. FID has been taken in good faith and on the ...
Romanian refinery of KazMunayGaz reports record operations in 2018
Thursday, February 14, 2019
Romania’s biggest oil refinery, Petromidia, reported record operational results in 2018 when it processed 5.9 million tons of crude oil, 20% more than planned. The refinery is part of Rompetrol Rafinare, a Romanian oil company 54%-controlled by Kazakh state oil company KazMunayGas through KazMunayGas International (KMGI). The Romanian state also holds a minority stake (46%) in Rompetrol Rafinare. KMGI group reported a net profit of USD 86 million for last year. The ...
ANRE’S ORDER ON REGULATED ENERGY PRICES WILL LOWER STATE REVENUES, REDUCE INVESTMENTS AND DISTORT THE MARKET
Thursday, February 7, 2019
Fondul Proprietatea expresses serious concerns about the highly detrimental impact on energy companies, investments in the energy sector, Romania’s energy security, and ultimately on end consumers if the National Regulatory Authority for Energy’s (“ANRE”) Order regarding the approval of the Pricing Methodology (“the Order”) for electricity sold by the producers on the basis of regulated contracts is implemented, a company release ...
Romania keeps giving state aid to coal even as it holds EU presidency
Thursday, February 7, 2019
Romania is continuing to prop up its ailing coal sector, blatantly ignoring EU state aid rules, even as the country claims to be defending EU values while holding the rotating presidency of the bloc, writes Alexandru Mustata for euractiv.com. Alexandru Mustata is a campaigner in Romania for CEE Bankwatch, a network of grassroots, environmental groups in Central and Eastern Europe monitoring the activities of international financial ...
Net profit of over RON 4bn in 2018 for OMV Petrom. Investments down in 2019
Thursday, February 7, 2019
In Q4/18 OMV Petrom benefited from increased demand for electricity and fuels as well as higher commodity prices compared to Q4/17, while the refining margin continued the downward trend in Q4/18, a company release informes on Wednesday. “The full year 2018 Clean CCS Operating Result reached RON 4.8 bn, with Upstream contributing about two thirds. Upstream benefitted from better realized prices and lower OPEX, depreciation and exploration ...
OMV Petrom: Romanian legal environment does not provide the necessary premises for an investment decision in the Black Sea
Thursday, February 7, 2019
The current legislative environment in Romania does not provide the necessary premises for an investment decision in the Black Sea, in the context in which a number of tax and regulatory initiatives have been discussed and/or implemented in recent months, which increases legislative volatility and influences the entire business environment, OMV Petrom representatives say in a statement on Wednesday posted on the Bucharest Stock Exchange website, romaniajournal.ro ...
Transgaz to abandon BRUA II project unless bidders show up to contract capacity
Thursday, February 7, 2019
Romania’s natural gas transporter Transgaz informed that it wouldn’t start building the second phase of the BRUA pipeline unless sufficient bidders show up for contracting the new capacity, romania-insider.com informs. The second stage of the BRUA pipeline (Bulgaria-Romania-Hungary- Transgaz has relaunched the auction for the pipeline’s capacity after several companies that had won the previous tender in 2017 ...
ANRE: All energy producers will have to supply electricity to population with a regulated profit of 5 pct
Thursday, February 7, 2019
All energy producers will have to supply electricity to population for a regulated price to ensure them a 5 per cent profit of justified costs, according to Order No. 10/2019 of the National Regulatory Authority for Energy (ANRE), published in the Official Journal.ANRE kept the provision according to which Hidrolectrica and Nuclearelectrica must deliver up to 65 per cent of their output, under a regulated regime, but specified it won't happened this ...
Hidroelectrica reacts to ANRE decision on 5% regulated profit
Thursday, February 7, 2019
The order issued by the National Regulatory Authority for Energy (ANRE), published by the Official Gazette, reading that all energy producers will have to supply this year electricity at a regulated price with a 5% profit margin on justified costs, violates the constitutional liberties on economic freedom and violates the Constitution of Romania, Hidroelectrica says in a release on Tuesday. It also argues it violates the national legal framework and the European ...
Reuters: Black Sea Oil & Gas gets Romania gas project permit, but frets over new taxes
Thursday, February 7, 2019
Romanian-based Black Sea Oil & Gas received a construction permit from the country’s energy ministry on Friday for an offshore gas project, but it said new taxes could make it hard to go ahead with the development, Reuters correspondent informs. The company, controlled by private equity firm Carlyle Group LP, discovered two wells holding an estimated 10 billion cubic meters of gas in 2008 some 120 kilometers offshore in the Black ...