The European Commission has addressed an additional reasoned opinion to Romania and urged the country to remove barriers on natural gas exports. In July 2014, the Commission sent a reasoned opinion to Romania as the national legislation included an obligation to sell gas with priority to the Romanian market, violating EU law by creating unjustified barriers on natural gas exports. Despite recent amendments to the Energy Law, this obligation was maintained. Romania must present its arguments on this matter to the Commission within two months. After the established delay, the Commission may decide to bring the matter before the Court of Justice of the European Union.
Romania is the third largest gas producer in the European Union (fourth in Europe, after Norway, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands), with 10 bcm produced in 2018 (down from 14 bcm in 2000). Only a small part of this amount is exported (25 mcm in 2018) and the country is a net gas importer (1.6 bcm in 2018).