Moldovan National Energy Regulation Agency likely to review natural gas prices delivered to end consumers

Chisinau, 6 August /MOLDPRES/ - The National  Energy Agency Regulation (ANRE) does not exclude a possible revision of rates of natural gas delivered to end consumers after a 17-per cent cut in the purchase price in the third quarter.

"ANRE will consider, after receiving a recommendation of the Supreme Security Council from 5 August on the review of new tariffs for natural gas supplied to end consumers and the Economics Ministry’s forecast on the evolution of purchase prices of natural gas, to determine whether there are enough arguments to revise the concerned rates," says a statement by ANRE.

In this step, "ANRE will be guided strictly by the law and the present tariff methodology."

In setting new tariffs for natural gas supplied to end consumers, approved on 18 July, the authorities took into account, as provided for by the tariff methodology in force, the average annual acquisition price of natural gas imported for 2015 in the amount of 260 dollars for 1,000 cubic meters, ANRE stated.

„As recommendation, I sent to ANRE, even if we have no institutional relations, a request to take note of this issue and hold a new meeting, in order to revise the gas rates. These tariffs will represent a burden not only for citizens, but also for the industrial sector, a good deal of which works on these resources,” said Prime Minister Valeriu Strelet at a government meeting on 5 August.

Strelet also demanded that the Economics Ministry works out its own vision on the formation of gas rates. „We have to take into account the dynamic of decreasing prices for purchasing gas, which stood at 254 dollars for 1,000 cubic metres of gas in the second quarter, now the price is 214 dollars, and it is estimated to drop to 204 dollars for 1,000 cubic meters in the fourth quarter. In the opinion of more specialists, the gas rates are not justified. It is necessary to have our own vision, which would be the correct tariff for gas for end consumers, in order to understand where there are deviations from legal norms and regulations in force,” Strelet said.

The revision of gas rates was one of the subjects discussed also at the meeting of the Supreme Security Council. 

Data by the Moldovagaz company shows that the gas price has dropped to the lowest level of the last six years. In January 2010, Moldova was buying gas at a price of 231 dollars per 1,000 cubic metres. In the following quarters, the gas price grew successively and reached the highest level of 402 dollars for 1,000 cubic metres in the fourth quarter of 2011. In 2014, the price for gas supplied to Moldova by Gazprom stood at about 380 dollars for 1,000 cubic metres. 

More experts think that the increase in gas rates is not justified, given that, recalculated in Moldovan lei, the acquisition price is lower than the one from September 2011, when the old tariff was set. In the third quarter of 2011, the acquisition price was 368 dollars per 1,000 cubic metres of gas.

(Reporter V. Bercu, editor M. Jantovan)