Romania's energy minister, Dumitru Chisăliță, said continuity of supply is his priority as the country enters the cold season under an energy alert and a crisis on the crude oil and petroleum-products market. In his first written interview since taking office, given to Mediafax, he said electricity coverage this winter will be judged on available generation, system reserves and exchange capacity with neighboring countries. Interconnections support security of supply, he said, but the availability of imports must also be read against the situation in the region.
On 30 October the government approved the measures he proposed for 1 November 2026 to 31 March 2027 and set up a winter energy command to monitor the power and gas systems together. The package covers fuel supply, plant availability, networks, intervention teams and district-heating continuity. He said coordination matters most in severe cold, when gas demand for heating and for electricity generation rises at the same time. A favorable balance for the season as a whole does not rule out pressure in particular hours if low temperatures, weak renewable output and plant outages coincide. For gas, he pointed to domestic production, stored volumes, complementary supply sources and the ability to extract and transport the daily volumes needed through February and March.
The same government decision extended by three months the crisis regime on the crude and petroleum-products market. That keeps a temporary cut in excise on standard diesel for November 2026 to January 2027, with assessments every two weeks, together with the other measures in the legal framework. Besides the excise and the regime for exports and intra-EU deliveries, a cap on commercial mark-ups and reporting duties remain in place. Chisăliță said the Energy Ministry's priorities are continuity of supply, diversification of sources and the functioning of refining and logistics. Any further step, he said, would have to be prepared with the Finance Ministry and other competent institutions according to market developments and the budget impact.
On refining, he said Romania's capacity matters for supply security and for limiting exposure to external disruption. Petrotel, owned by Lukoil and closed under international sanctions on the Russian company, must be examined in line with the sanctions regime and all applicable legal conditions. A restart, he said, requires legal, financial and technical conditions to be met together, including access to feedstock and to the services needed to operate. An authorization to negotiate the sale of certain assets does not authorize the transaction and does not by itself show that the refinery can resume production. He said institutional work should seek a viable solution with the competent authorities and external partners, and he would not offer a restart date before those conditions are fulfilled.
Domestic projects are being counted only as they become available. At Mintia, the first gas turbine, with 575 MW of installed capacity, was synchronized with the national grid on 15 October, with testing aligned to the evening peak; tests on a second turbine of the same capacity are scheduled to begin in mid-December. At Iernut, which he visited on 31 October, Romgaz is general contractor for a 430 MW plant; synchronization is estimated by the first quarter of 2027 at the latest and commercial operation by the end of the first half of 2027, subject to works and technical checks. For Neptun Deep, OMV Petrom and Romgaz estimate first gas in the first half of 2027. An OMV Petrom report of 29 October said the platform had been installed and eight wells and the pipeline to shore completed. Plateau output for the whole project is estimated at about 8 billion cubic meters a year, reached gradually after production starts. He also visited Cernavodă to review investment progress and said the ministry will press agreed deadlines where it has authority, while company management and contractual duties remain in place.
On household bills, he said protection for vulnerable consumers has to be tied to measures that cut system costs. The framework in Government Emergency Ordinance 12/2026, as later amended, applies to household gas consumption until 31 March 2027. For electricity, he pointed to more available generation, network development, storage and efficiency as ways to ease peak-price pressure. He said storage has not so far been matched closely enough to system needs, and that he will work with Transelectrica, ANRE and distribution operators on balancing, congestion and high-demand hours.
He has told the prime minister that homes still without electricity need a dedicated program and has asked the Ministry of Investments and European Projects to look for funding. The Intelligent Energy Association, which he previously led, estimates that 27 million euro would complete electrification of all such homes. He described grid connections where feasible and standalone systems with storage for isolated houses. Chisăliță, a gas expert and former Romgaz chief who entered government from the association, said a minister's authority does not by itself deliver every change quickly, and that results depend on the government, parliament, regulators and companies.