Romanian government representatives said during a press conference in London with an Austrian representative from OMV that the natural gas discovered in the Black Sea should be sold first on the Romanian market to replace imports and exported only if there is a surplus, according to AP, quoted by local media.

Jaap Huijskes, the Austrian representative of OMV said that in order to sell the natural gas, they need to agree on the price and tax system, saying that if the Romanian government cannot agree on the price, OMV won’t develop the subsoil assets.

Huijskes added that the drilling work in the Black Sea perimeters will continue next year. The natural gas extraction in the Black Sea is scheduled for the end of the decade and the subsoil assets exploitation, estimated to last for 10 years, could ensure energy independence for Romania on gas.

Romania consumes about 14 billion cubic meters of gas a year, which is 80 percent provided by domestic production. The difference is imported from the Russian Federation, at high prices.

Oil and gas royalties, which are between 3.5 percent and 13 percent of production, were set in 2004 and are valid until December 2014. These fees were established through the Petrom privatization contract with Austria's OMV.

The Government intends to implement in January 2013, a special stop-gap corporate income tax on gas and electricity before  a new regulatory and taxation regime on oil and gas companies is introduced in the middle of next year.

Ioana Toader, ioana.toader@romania-insider.com