Romgaz’s preliminary first-half figures show that Romania is entering the second half of 2026 with weaker domestic production and slower storage replenishment.
The state-controlled producer’s total hydrocarbon output declined 3.2 per cent to 15.67 million barrels of oil equivalent. Natural-gas output fell 3.4 per cent, while gas marketed from domestic production decreased 6.4 per cent to 2.36 billion cubic metres.
Storage withdrawals increased 17.8 per cent to 1.47 billion cubic metres, but injections fell by the same percentage to 764.1 million cubic metres. Romgaz’s electricity production dropped 46.7 per cent to 182 GWh.
The combination matters more than any single figure. Lower production is reducing the volume available for sale and injection, while heavier withdrawals show that storage performed more work during the preceding tight period. Neptun Deep is expected to transform Romania’s supply position from 2027, but it does not solve the immediate 2026–27 winter-balancing requirement.
Elsewhere, Bulgaria’s public supplier is proposing an August regulated gas price of approximately €37.36/MWh, about 0.9 per cent below July’s €37.70/MWh. Most contracted August gas will come from Azerbaijan, although planned maintenance will reduce those deliveries. Bulgargaz intends to use withdrawals from Chiren and LNG arriving through Greece, with no Turkish LNG deliveries currently planned for the month.
Greece has become more important to that balancing strategy. Its gas exports reached 8.72 TWh in the first half of 2026, more than three times the 2.86 TWh recorded a year earlier. Revithoussa supplied 18.61 TWh of imports, up 27 per cent, while the Alexandroupoli FSRU handled 3.46 TWh, more than triple its previous-year volume.
The northern gas corridor is therefore becoming commercially active, but the region remains exposed to international LNG prices and storage availability. Bulgaria can hold its regulated price below the broader European benchmark for a month by combining Azerbaijani gas, inventories and contracted LNG. Sustaining that discount through winter will depend on Chiren replenishment and the continued availability of Greek import infrastructure.
The latest financing activity shows a market becoming more discriminating. Debt is reaching permitted wind farms, strategic substations and established transmission contractors, while multi-billion-euro pumped storage, SMRs and AI-related power systems remain conditional on feasibility, governance and credible revenue arrangements.
