Romania's OMV Petrom signs deal covering quarter of Moldova's gas demand
The agreement is crucial for Moldova, which has been dependent on Russian gas for decades but has moved to diversify supply following Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The Reuters Power Up newsletter provides everything you need to know about the global energy industry. Sign up here.
Romania's energy ministry announced the three-year supply deal from its pending Black Sea project Neptun Deep, one of the European Union's most significant gas deposits with an estimated 100 billion cubic meters of recoverable gas.
Jointly owned by OMV Petrom and the Romanian state-owned gas producer Romgaz (SNG.BX), opens new tab, the project is on track to deliver its first gas in 2027.
"In a situation where Moldova's relations with Russia's Gazprom (GAZP.MM), opens new tab have broken down, obtaining gas directly from Neptun Deep increases the reliability of Moldova's natural gas supply," Vadim Ceban, CEO of Moldovan national gas company Moldovagaz, told Reuters.
He added that the deal will account for 25% of Moldova's total demand for gas, which is estimated at 3.2 billion cubic metres a year.
Moldova's pro-Russian breakaway region Transdniestria used Russian gas even after the Ukraine invasion, but plunged into an energy crisis earlier this year after Gazprom stopped deliveries.
Romania's energy ministry said the contract with Moldova's Energocom amounted to less than 1% of Neptun Deep's estimated reserves.
Neptun Deep is Romania's biggest energy project in almost two decades. It will double Romania's gas production and likely turn it into a net exporter, at a time when the EU is weaning itself off Russian gas.
OMV Petrom, which is majority controlled by Austria's OMV (OMVV.VI), opens new tab, will also supply Germany's Uniper with 15 terawatt hours of gas from Neptun Deep under a five-year deal.
The company and Romgaz plan to sell the gas separately, but under Romanian law the government will have a pre-emptive first right to gas from the project under certain conditions.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Reuters
2 hours ago
- Reuters
E.ON calls for higher grid returns in Germany as core profit jumps
FRANKFURT, Aug 13 (Reuters) - ( opens new tab on Wednesday called on Germany's energy regulator to raise future returns on grid investments, warning Europe's top economy risked falling behind in its efforts to build out power infrastructure. Europe's largest grid operator posted a 13% rise in first-half adjusted core profit to 5.5 billion euros ($6.43 billion), and reiterated its outlook for 2025 adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of 9.6 billion to 9.8 billion euros. shares were 1.6% higher at 1125 GMT, further helped by CFO Nadia Jakobi indicating that the group will likely hit the upper end of the guidance. The shares are up 40% year-to-date, benefitting from a structure that essentially shields it from the impact of U.S. tariffs. "We continue to believe that is excellently positioned in the distribution infrastructure sector, which is highly relevant for the energy transition," Metzler Bank analysts said in a note. CEO Leonhard Birnbaum confirmed expects to invest 43 billion euros over the 2024-2028 period, but warned other European nations were creating better grid incentives. Energy grid operators depend on fixed rates of return and have warned that caps must be raised in Germany's new five-year regulatory period for electricity network earnings from 2029. Birnbaum also urged German regulators, who want to firm up plans for the next period by year-end, to consider higher caps to ensure enough money flows into the country's grid expansion. The German regulator currently allows pre-tax write-off rates of return on equity employed of 7% on new infrastructure and 5% for existing infrastructure pre-tax, compared to 7%-9% elsewhere in Europe. ($1 = 0.8559 euros)
Reuters
6 hours ago
- Reuters
China's solar power capacity growth to slow in H2 after pricing reforms
BEIJING, Aug 13 (Reuters) - China's new solar power capacity will slow in the second half of 2025 as reforms removing guaranteed pricing create uncertainty for new projects, though full-year additions will still likely reach a record high because of frontloading, analysts say. Slowing growth in the world's largest solar fleet is a fresh blow for solar manufacturers already struggling with massive overcapacity and a vicious price war. Global solar manufacturers, the majority of which are in China, have the capacity to make more than twice the number of panels the world will buy this year, according to an estimate from Morningstar. Through June, China has added 212 gigawatts of new solar capacity, according to data from the National Energy Administration, more than double the first-half 2024 additions. But based on that figure, the latest annual forecasts from analysts show that capacity additions are likely to roughly halve in the second half compared to last year. Analysts at Natixis expect 300 GW of new solar for 2025 in its mid-point scenario. That likely means only 88 GW will be added for the rest of the year, based on calculations deducting the first half NEA data. Fitch Solutions' BMI forecasts an annual gain of 310 GW, which would mean an expected gain of only 98 GW for the rest of the year. NEA data showed 175 GW of solar were added in the second half of 2024, part of a record annual surge of 277 GW. Power reforms introduced earlier this year removed a guaranteed rate of return for renewable energy projects, forcing projects built from June to sell power at market prices. The change creates uncertainty around the rate of return for investors accustomed to fixed pricing. Adding to the confusion, the exact market mechanisms can differ between provinces. Because of this, companies surged their new capacity into the first half of the year, with 93 GW of new additions in May, which dropped to 14 GW in June, the NEA data showed. "All of the projects were rushing to be commissioned ahead of the last window where they have basically guaranteed revenue," said Linda Zeng, senior power and renewables analyst for BMI. She believes annual additions will still be higher "because of the sheer scale of the first half. But we expect for the rest of the months that additions could be at a similar rate as June, which is not super high." From 2026, solar installations are forecast to level out around 250 GW per year, said Zeng.
Telegraph
7 hours ago
- Telegraph
French energy giant wins legal battle to shut down North Sea oil fields
Ed Miliband's net zero push has helped a French energy giant win a legal battle to decommission a key North Sea energy hub – killing off five oil fields in the process. On Tuesday, Paris-based TotalEnergies won a High Court victory to close the Gryphon floating production platform which is anchored 200 miles north-east of Aberdeen. Judges relied on Mr Miliband's net zero targets as justification to close the site, backing an original decision by the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA), which had been opposed by rival oil groups. The Gryphon produced up to 2pc of UK oil and gas production, and its closure will mean 200 job losses with an estimated 9m barrels of known oil reserves left in the ground, plus £150m in lost tax revenue for the Treasury. Total is cutting back operations in UK waters linked to Mr Miliband's crackdown on offshore oil and gas as well as the 78pc tax on offshore profits imposed by Rachel Reeves, the Chancellor. Its decommissioning plans were originally approved by the NSTA partly because reduced oil and gas production would cut UK greenhouse gas emissions and so help achieve net zero. However, they were strongly opposed by Nobel Upstream, which used the Gryphon to store output from two adjacent oil fields – and wanted Total to keep in use. Nobel has now lost its judicial review of the NSTA's decision – opening the way for the Gryphon vessel to be removed and the underlying oil fields permanently decommissioned. The judgment said: 'By taking account of the societal costs of carbon [emissions] the NSTA produced a more accurate assessment of the value to the UK of extracting the petroleum and so assisted the Secretary of State to achieve net zero because an emission-generating activity, the full societal cost of which outweighed its benefits, would not continue.' Richard Tice, Reform UK's energy spokesman, said: 'This is a shocking, negligent decision by a judge overly focused on net zero. 'The consequence is the loss of hundreds of jobs, millions of barrels of oil and hundreds of millions worth of value to the UK economy.' Claire Coutinho, the shadow energy secretary, said: 'We know we'll be needing oil and gas for decades to come so we should be making the most of our resources in the North Sea. ' A Nobel spokesman said the company was deeply disappointed and warned the case would set a precedent that could see many more such closures. 'This decision supporting the shutting in of some 12,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day of oil and gas production will only hasten the demise of the North Sea, where the tax and regulatory regimes are already punitive,' he said. The Gryphon is a giant floating production, storage and offloading vessel over the Gryphon North and Gryphon South oil and gas fields. It also receives output from two Nobel oil fields – the 'Maclure' and 'Ballindalloch' – with all its gas exported directly to the UK mainland, where it enters the national gas grid to support power stations and heat millions of homes. Production was halted by Total earlier this year and the final closure decision marks the latest blow to the North Sea, which is in rapid decline amid the Government's retreat from oil and gas. It comes after Donald Trump hit out at the UK's taxes on North Sea oil while in Scotland last month, saying the resource is a 'treasure chest' for the country. Derek Thomson, Unite's Scottish secretary, said: 'Thousands of jobs in the oil and gas sector are under threat. The deep concern for Unite is that TotalEnergies' plan for the Gryphon remains premature and the judicial review's outcome could have a domino effect across the North Sea.' Michelle Thomson, the SNP MSP for Falkirk East, said: 'It's terrible news that TotalEnergies intend to shut down their floating storage and associated oil fields. This can only result in the loss of jobs that will have a much wider impact across the entire sector and undermine any attempts to have a just transition.'
