The European Commission (EC) announced that it has launched a formal investigation in order to determine whether Romanian natural gas transmission system operator Transgaz has abused its dominant market position to restrict gas exports.
EC said in the statement that the investigation will focus on allegations that Transgaz has developed a strategy to restrict gas exports from Romanian to other EU member states. Such strategy could have been implemented through the use of interconnection transmission fees, underinvestment or delays in the construction of relevant infrastructure and unfounded technical arguments as a pretext to prevent or delay gas exports from the country. EC concludes that measures like these could lead to higher prices and less secure supplies of natural gas by decreasing liquidity of wholesale gas market in Romania.
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Tags: EC, export restrictions, gas, gas export, investigation, Romania, Transgaz