Hungary is negotiating over Romanian Black Sea gas
The new Hungarian government is expected to decide within the next few weeks on whether to sign a gas supply agreement with Romania. The agreement calls for annual deliveries of 1 billion cubic meters of natural gas from the Neptun Deep offshore field in the Black Sea, according to reports on May 23 by the Hungarian news portal Index and sources familiar with the negotiations.
Production at the Neptun Deep field is scheduled to begin in 2027. Hungary’s annual natural gas consumption is around 9 billion cubic meters, of which approximately 4.5 billion cubic meters currently come from Russia.
The Romanian gas would replace 20 to 25% of the volumes Hungary would have to forgo if the EU’s REPowerEU program completely bans Russian energy imports starting in October 2027.
According to sources, the agreed price for the Romanian gas is already at a level comparable to current Russian supply contracts.
However, negotiations were complicated by political changes in both countries. Under Romanian law, the state holds a right of first refusal for strategic transactions. While the Romanian interim government declared its intention to exercise this right, it did not have the authority to make a final decision.
The seven-day deadline for a response expired on May 15. Romania then requested an extension until mid-June.
According to sources, the Hungarian side has already completed its preparations for signing the contract. The state-owned energy company MVM reportedly received all necessary approvals as early as March.
Prime Minister Péter Magyar stated that the European Union would likely resume purchasing Russian gas following a potential end to the war in Ukraine. Hungary fundamentally supports the diversification of its energy supply, but must take economic viability and energy costs into account.
At the same time, he emphasized that liquefied natural gas (LNG), which is transported via the Baltic Sea as well as through Poland and Slovakia, is significantly more expensive than gas supplies from Russia, Romania, or Austria.
