Romania’s energy regulator ANRE has imposed a new round of financial sanctions on the consortium developing the Midia offshore gas field in the Black Sea, citing continued non-compliance with domestic gas supply obligations. The penalties target Black Sea Oil & Gas (BSOG) along with partners PetroVentures and GasPlus Dacia, despite previous sanctions in prior years.
According to ANRE, the three producers failed throughout 2024 to deliver the required volumes of domestically produced natural gas to the household market at prices set by law. The fine was calculated at 3% of each company’s turnover for the year, reflecting the seriousness of the breach.
The regulator explained that offshore producers are legally obligated to allocate part of their output for household consumption at capped tariffs introduced during the energy crisis. These prices were initially fixed at 30 euros/MWh and later reduced to 24 euros/MWh under emergency legislation. ANRE determines the amount of gas each producer must sell under these conditions.
For 2024, ANRE concluded that none of the Midia partners complied with these rules. As a result:
- BSOG was fined 7.4 million euros,
- PetroVentures was penalized 2.3 million euros,
- GasPlus Dacia faced a fine of 1.15 million euros.
ANRE emphasized that this is not an isolated incident. The same producers have been repeatedly sanctioned since 2022 for identical violations, raising concerns about a persistent disregard for regulated supply rules.
The obligation dates back to March 2022, when the Romanian Government introduced emergency measures requiring gas producers to sell part of their output at controlled prices. The measures aimed to protect households and district heating suppliers from soaring energy costs during the crisis, with ANRE responsible for enforcing compliance and monitoring deliveries.
Despite the strategic importance of the Midia project as Romania’s first new offshore gas production in decades, the regulator made clear that this does not exempt producers from domestic supply obligations.
