Criza gazelor naturale din Romania. Cauze ale aparitiei si evolutia acesteia

The natural gas crisis was a deep one. As Europeans paid higher bills starting in the winter of 2021-2022, European energy markets, from natural gas to carbon permits, hit new records. Geopolitics was not missing from the landscape either, where Russia made moves proving that Europe still remains, regardless of declarations, dependent on Russian gas. Starting from these considerations, the article aims to carry out an analysis of the causes that led to the emergence of the natural gas crisis, as well as the evolution of their prices in Romania. Thus, the paper studies the evolution of natural gas prices on specific markets and presents the measures taken by the Romanian Government to protect consumers (and primarily household consumers) in the face of high natural gas and, implicitly, energy prices, as well as the effects induced by them to players on the market, but also the long-term prospects, in the context of the (ongoing) conflict in Ukraine. Since the use of natural gas will continue to play an important role in supporting the transition of the EU economy from solid or nuclear fuel to green energy, at the end of the article it is concluded that the Romanian state authorities must give the national energy strategy the importance and urgency of the moment, and the subsequent implementation of the strategy must allow Romania to use its high potential, compared to other European countries, so as to become energy independent.