The effects of the Middle East conflict can already be seen on the market for oil and natural gas market, and the Ministry of Energy will manage this situation using the levers at its disposal, including safety stocks, Energy Minister Sebastian Burduja told a news conference on Monday.
"I think anyone has a hard time estimating the impact of the conflict in the Middle East, because we still don't know how much it will extend and to what level. But we, at the level of the Romanian Ministry of Energy, are very concerned with the security state of play in the Middle East. We are already seeing the effects on the natural gas market, on the oil market, of petroleum products. We will manage this situation using the levers at our disposal, including the safety stocks that the ministry manages in the area of petroleum products, in order not to preclude the effect of a lack of resources for consumers," said Burduja.
Regarding prices, he added that this "is another discussion," because they depend on many international variables.
European natural gas prices declined after rallying more than 40% last week, with traders weighing milder weather forecasts and international efforts to contain the conflict in the Middle East, Bloomberg reported on Monday.
Dutch front-month gas, Europe's benchmark, traded 4.9% lower at EUR 51.33 a megawatt-hour by 08:38hrs in Amsterdam.
AGERPRES.