Romania "will redefine its energy policy"

President Traian Basescu said in Brussels that the European Council was informed that Romania will call from now on its own resources, without waiting for someone's approval.

"My option is now without any doubt. Romania is required to accelerate the evaluation process and to pass on shale gas exploitation. Moreover, to pass also to gas and oil exploitation already confirmed in the Black Sea.

"If we will be decisive in the governmental action and state institutions, we could have for the Romanian people gases by at least 50 percent cheaper, the shale gas, before the date on which Nabucco would be ready and we could have gas pipeline from the Black Sea at a reasonable price, all before we have the posibility to receive gas through the Nabucco pipeline, "said Traian Basescu.

The Head of State pointed out that another alternative source for Romania is resuming the operation with modern technology of our own oil fields which are currently abandoned after the exploitation in the past, but that does not exceed one third of the resource.

President Basescu said that Romania does not have the necessary technologies for drilling in deep in the Black Sea also for the shale gas and that we have to rely on foreign companies, but we also have to establish the rules on transit fees and extracted resources.

Chess Deniz consortium, which would have to feed the pipeline, announced that Azerbaijani gas will be transported to Western Europe through a competing pipeline route, the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline, TAP, which passes by Romania.

Translated by Alexandra-Diana Mircea

MTTLC, Bucharest University