Crisis takes Romania back 20 years in terms of gas consumption

The Russian-Ukrainian conflict at the beginning of the year and the outbreak of the global crisis brought Romania’s gas consumption to levels seen 20-30 years ago, according to representatives of Transgaz, Romania’s national natural gas transmission company. Gas, energy and fuel consumption are fine barometers of a country’s economic situation, and, according to market players, declines on all three segments amounted to at least 10%. The first six months of 2009 saw the lowest consumption of natural gas recorded in the last 20-30 years,” says Transgaz. The situation is similar to that recorded in the time when the transmission system only partially covered consumption areas, and the industry was not as developed as today. 23% less gas was consumed in all in the first half of the year against the first half of 2008. According to Transelectrica data, there was an around 10% decline in energy consumption in the first half of the year. Fuel consumption was also down by over 10%.