Romania's three-party ruling coalition submitted to Parliament on April 15 the so-called Offshore law, a set of amendments expected to unblock the investments in the Black Sea perimeter by sweetening the taxation regime and removing trading restrictions previously aimed at providing higher energy independence.

The leaders of the three parties sent the bill along with an optimistic message stating that the new regulations unblock the investment projects, secure the country's energy independence and establish a "competitive" fiscal regime, News.ro reported.

Speaking about unblocking the investment projects and the "competitive" sharing of the benefits (between the state and the operator), none of the key investors (BSOG, OMV Petrom) has commented on the new Offshore Law provisions yet.

Separately, the claims about Romania's "energy independence" secured by the new law are purely petty politics as long as the provisions about the mandatory and transparent sale on national centralized trading platforms (included in previous legislation) are abrogated.

However, under special situations (energy crises), the new Offshore Law allows the Government "may take measures for the sale with priority in Romania, of the quantities of natural gas extracted from the respective perimeters."

Separately, the bilateral contracts involving gas extracted from the offshore perimeters should be notified to and cleared by the national mineral resources agency NAMR. The state holds preemptive rights over the gas sold under such contracts.

(Photo: Pixabay)

andrei@romania-insider.com