Natural gas price cap for households, extended
The Romanian government has adopted an emergency ordinance on capping natural gas prices for household consumers.
Roxana Vasile, 06.03.2026, 13:50
After the full liberalization of the electricity market on July 1, 2025, which has triggered double or triple electricity prices, Romanians feared the same scenario for natural gas. More precisely, the deadline for the liberalization of gas prices was supposed to come into effect on April 1, 2026, and the four-party coalition government in Bucharest seemed determined not to extend the capping scheme introduced during the Covid-19 pandemic and extended until now. The final price was supposed to be the one established in the supply contracts, dependent on market developments. The only consolation for household consumers was that, with the arrival of spring, the increasingly lower consumption would have protected them, until the following winter, from paying huge gas bills.
Political leaders changed their minds, however, and on Thursday they adopted an emergency order based on which natural gas prices for household consumers will be maintained, even after April 1, for another year, at the previously capped level (0.31 lei/kilowatt hour). There were three considerations that led to this decision. The first – gas market liberalization can be done without a shock, when there is a large supply on the market, and next year Romania will become the largest natural gas producer in the European Union, as extraction from the Neptun Deep perimeter of the Black Sea will begin. Secondly, economic and social predictability must be ensured, especially by lowering the inflation rate, and thirdly – the country must be protected from price fluctuations on world energy markets caused by the war in the Middle East.
According to Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan, since, against the background of the situation in the Gulf, fuel prices are changing, any increase would have a significant impact on people’s revenues: ʺWe are in a situation where, even if the European Union or Romania are not very dependent on supplies from the area, due to the fact that prices on these gas and fuel markets are formed at a global level, there are inevitably marginal effects on us as well, and where we can significantly influence things, such as the gas market, where we have a certain energy independence, it was normal to do so.ʺ
In the meantime, the Ministry of Energy is also working on finding solutions to support Romanian companies in this international context. At the same time, the government intends to present a plan by the end of this month that will allow electricity prices to decrease, by – for example – increasing storage capacities or through investment programs. Prime Minister Bolojan: ʺIncreasing storage capacities will allow us to reduce a price that is very high during peak hours, so that, overall, we can have cheaper energy.ʺ There are also discussions at government level about limiting the effects on the cost of diesel and gasoline supplies. (EE)
