The first trial term, filed in administrative litigation at the Bucharest Court of Appeal, was set for mid-October.
Largest Romanian oil and gas company OMV Petrom filed a lawsuit asking for the cancellation of the order issued by the National Energy Regulatory Authority (ANRE) in May, which forces the company to comply to new gas supply obligations on stock exchanges at capped starting price, the so-called gas release program.
The ANRE order challenged by OMV Petrom stipulates that between 1 June 2020 and 31 December 2022, natural gas producers whose annual production in the previous year exceeded 3,000,000 MWh have the obligation to offer the sale of quantities of natural gas, with delivery in the aforementioned period, in a transparent, public and non-discriminatory manner, on the centralized markets in Romania, in an annual percentage share of 30 %. Besides OMV Petrom, state-owned gas producer Romgaz is also affected by this order.
The offer must be made in a first stage at a maximum initial price equal to 95 % of the gas price on the Austrian CEGH exchange. Subsequently, the maximum price will be set in proportion of 80 % depending on the average price on the Romanian centralized platforms OPCOM and BRM and only 20 % depending on the price on the CEGH.
