Hungary, Romania agree on solidarity measures to safeguard security of gas supply

Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjrtó and Romanian Minister of Energy Sebastian Ioan Burduja signed an intergovernmental agreement on solidarity measures to safeguard the security of gas supply in Budapest on Monday.

The agreement will contribute to Hungary’s energy security and maintaining the regulated utility prices for households, Szijjártó said after the signing. With the agreement, he added that the dominance of Hungary’s gas deliveries from the south has increased. Szijjártó pointed to Romania’s large energy production and storage capacity and its access to alternative gas supply routes. He said the interconnector between Hungary’s and Romania’s gas networks had an annual capacity of 2.6 billion cubic metres. Last year, 1.8 billion cubic metres of gas was delivered through the interconnector, he added.

Szijjártó said talks were underway on purchasing gas from an offshore project in Romania that was set to make the country a net gas exporter. He added that the Black Sea gas field project will diversify the region’s energy supply. He said that cooperation is based on the fact that both countries see energy supply as a physical, practical issue rather than an ideological one and that there is agreement on natural gas’s future role.

“The fact that there has already been a very active, dynamic and fruitful energy cooperation between the two countries is also a good basis for cooperation,” he added.

At the joint press conference, Szijjártó pointed out that Romania has significant extraction capacities, which will be further expanded in the future, and that the neighbouring country has a large storage capacity in regional comparison, which also has access to alternative sources.