Romania's natural gas consumption has climbed to nearly 58 million cubic meters per day, about 17% above the annual average for this period, and the storage filling rate is currently 65%, 11% above the EU average and 6% higher than last year, Energy Minister Bogdan Ivan said on Monday after a meeting of the National Energy Command.

'I called the National Energy Command meeting, both today and on Friday, to make sure that, amid the frosty weather warning (...) Romania is prepared with sufficient gas to cover average consumption. At this moment, consumption is around 58 million cubic meters per day, 17% more than the annual average. We are at 65% of storage capacity, above both the EU average and last year's level,' Ivan explained.

According to the minister, the daily supply is covered by 23.6 million cubic meters from domestic production, 25.5 million cubic meters from storage, with imports making up the difference.

'It is important that Romania is prepared to overcome this period in perfect coordination between the companies that produce natural gas and those that transport and distribute it. I want to thank them because, since July, when we first met with all market operators and Transgaz president Ion Sterian, they promptly responded to our request to make purchases as early as in summer, so we could enter winter with storage at 100% capacity, which we did. On November 1, we started the cold season with full reserves. We were prepared for the worst, and now we are in a situation where those additional storage capacities are proving essential,' the minister emphasized.

Electricity production currently averages 7,800 MW, compared with consumption of 8,500 MW. The energy mix is 24% hydrocarbons (mainly gas), 24% hydro, 16% nuclear, 14% coal, with solar accounting for 8% and wind output around 1,000 MW per day.

'If we hadn't negotiated with the European Commission to keep coal-fired plants running, we would face a huge problem. CEO Oltenia extracts 30,000 tons of coal daily, a record output, under very difficult conditions,' Ivan noted.

He added that while wind generation has been strong during this period, it is expected to decline in the coming days. Solar power continues to contribute about 8% of the total output.

The minister mentioned that there were several technical issues in Craiova, which have been remedied in the meantime, and at the moment ELCEN Craiova produces enough heating energy to inject into the network and to meet the needs of the Ford company, which did not work during the weekend.

Ivan said difficulties are expected to persist until January 15, after which consumption should return to seasonal averages as temperatures rise. 'We overcame the weekend, and we will also get through these three critical days, especially for Muntenia and Bucharest,' he concluded. AGERPRES (RO - writing by: Nicoleta Gherasi; EN - writing by: Simona Klodnischi)