The Presidents of the United States and Romania, Donald Trump and Klaus Johannis, made a statement on the need to counteract Nord Stream 2. This is stated in a document published on the White House website. In particular, it notes the readiness to use Romania’s natural gas resources for this purpose.

“The United States and Romania recognize that energy security is national. We emphasize our position against Nord Stream 2 and other projects that make our allies and partners dependent on Russian energy supplies. The natural gas reserves in Romania can increase the well-being of our countries and strengthen the energy security of Europe, ”the statement of the two leaders emphasized.

On August 20, the Romanian president paid a visit to the United States. He held a meeting with Donald Trump, at which, among other issues, the energy interaction of the two countries was discussed. On the day of the visit, another statement was published on the White House website. In it, in particular, it emphasized Washington’s desire to help Bucharest "better use it (Romania. - RT ) huge natural gas resources."

In turn, Klaus Johannis, answering journalists' questions, noted that “President Trump is very interested in developing new energy resources” on the Romanian Black Sea shelf.

Not a competitor

Romania is one of the few countries in Europe where natural gas has been extracted since the beginning of the 20th century. It is one of the main gas producers in Europe. However, Romanian mining now does not even cover the country's own needs.

Thus, according to the National Energy Regulatory Authority (ANRE), in May 2019, 86.42% of the gas consumed in the country was produced in Romania, which amounted to a little more than 504 million cubic meters. m. The remaining volumes had to be bought abroad, including in Russia. In cold January, the volumes of consumption and import were much higher. Then Romania produced only 76.96% of the gas consumed by the country (more than 1.4 billion cubic meters). Imported - 428 million cubic meters. At the same time, in January 61.61% of imported gas was purchased from Russia.

By May, in official statistics, the share of Russian gas fell to 0.41%. Bucharest allegedly purchased the rest of the gas from the EU. However, the Romanian media suggest that in fact this European gas is still the same Russian. At the same time, official statistics claim that, compared with January last year, imports of this type of hydrocarbons in Romania increased by 55.09%.

There are serious hopes for an increase in gas production in Romania with the development of the Black Sea shelf. As Reuters noted in April, proven reserves of natural gas on the Romanian shelf are estimated at 200 billion cubic meters. m. However, this is not such a big figure, since Germany consumes the same amount over two years, the newspaper notes. For comparison, after the commissioning of Nord Stream 2, the total design capacity of this gas pipeline, together with the already existing Nord Stream, will be about 110 billion cubic meters. m of gas per year.

“We can say that this is an exclusively political statement,” said Alexander Frolov, deputy director general of the National Energy Institute, in a conversation with RT. - As for the production itself, the territory of Romania is very limited, and its total gas reserves are small, that is, Romania cannot become a significant player even in its Balkan region. Gas production on the Black Sea shelf is carried out by many countries, including the Crimea. However, the cost is very high, and the benefits are not obvious. "

Remove restrictions

Another obstacle that stands in the way of gas production on the Black Sea shelf is the position of the Romanian government. It is formed by the Social Democrats who control the parliament and is in difficult relations with the “right-wing” president Johannis. So, a number of restrictions were set to increase prices for domestic consumers for the period until 2022.

  • Drilling site near the village of Pungesti, Romania
  • Reuters
  • © Bogdan Cristel

This led to the outrage of investors who wanted to sell more gas for export at better prices. ExxonMobil, OMV Petrom, an Austrian OMV subsidiary, and Black Sea Oil & Gas, owned by The Carlyle Group, an American investment fund, have already shown interest in developing fields.

The latter is associated with the Bush family. However, they still evaluate the feasibility of developing projects, advocating the removal of existing restrictions.

A joint statement by Klaus Johannis and Donald Trump notes, among other things, that “the United States and Romania will think about the most optimal and mutually beneficial approach to improve the investment climate in the energy sector of Romania.”

Experts do not exclude that the United States may have a commercial interest in developing natural gas reserves in the country, and “improving the investment climate” may mean Bucharest’s concessions to Washington on this issue.

“If we talk about the interest of American commercial companies, then the United States really never does anything,” said Sergei Pikin, director of the Energy Development Fund in an interview with RT.

Another thread

According to experts, it is very strange that Bucharest and Washington jointly opposed Nord Stream 2, but did not mention the Turkish Stream in their statements. As Sergei Pikin emphasizes, the gas that goes to Europe via the Baltic Sea and the fuel from Romania “do not even have consumer zones intersecting.” At the same time, the gas that will go from the Turkish Stream to the Balkans and further to Austria and Hungary can compete with the Romanian, if export supplies can be established.

According to Alexander Frolov, most likely Bucharest does not discount the prospects of its own joining this project.

“Romania now does not oppose the Turkish Stream, because it seems to be aware of its possible inclusion in this project,” the political scientist believes.

  • US President Donald Trump during a meeting with Romanian President Klaus Johannis in Washington
  • Reuters
  • © Kevin Lamarque

Expansion of presence

In addition to energy security issues, according to the President of Romania, military security issues were discussed at a meeting with Donald Trump. In particular, the Romanian leader announced his readiness to accept a larger contingent of US troops. He emphasized that he himself acted as an initiator, pointing out to Trump the importance of such a step in the context of common interests in the Black Sea.

“We discussed this issue. I introduced it to the discussion and showed Romania’s ability to accommodate a larger American contingent, and President Trump was very open, ”said Johannis.

According to the Romanian leader, the parties have yet to discuss where the US military can be accommodated. What kind of quantity is involved, he did not specify.

At present, according to the White House, in Romania there are about 1,000 US military personnel who are replacing each other in a rotational order. In addition, near the settlement of Deveselu, there is an American base where the Aegis Ashore ground-based missile defense system is located.

  • American soldiers at the air base in Romania
  • Reuters
  • © Inquam Photos / Octav Ganea

On August 19, the US said it had tested a medium-range ground-based missile, the first since Washington withdrew from the INF Treaty. According to a Pentagon spokesperson, the launch was carried out from the MK41 vertical launcher. The representative of the US Department of Defense emphasized that the tested system was supposedly different from the one used in Devesela. Recall that earlier in Moscow it was repeatedly noted that the American base in Romania can be used to launch cruise missiles banned by the INF Treaty. According to military expert Ivan Konovalov, the Americans only proved that missiles can be fired at targets in Russia from their missile defense base.

“The launch of the Tomahawk was carried out with the MK-41. These installations are located in Romania. This proves that Americans can easily reprogram them to use cruise missiles. Thus, the Americans set themselves up, ”said Konovalov.

Someone else's will

As experts noted in an interview with RT, both Bucharest’s desire, together with the United States, to oppose Nord Stream-2, and the desire to deploy more US troops are not due to the interests of Romania itself, but the United States.

“This country fulfills any will of Washington,” Konovalov said. - Romania is becoming a powerful bridgehead on which the Americans plan to rely in the Black Sea region. To understand why the Americans need it, it is enough to draw a straight line on the map from Romania to Georgia. The best opportunity to transfer the necessary forces in the event of a conflict in the Caucasus is to take advantage of the advantageous geographical position of Romania. ”

In turn, Alexander Frolov notes that Romania may try to derive political advantages from supporting Trump in his “crusade against Nord Stream 2”. But here, Bucharest runs the risk of complicating relations with European allies.

“It is important to note that Nord Stream 2 is not a purely Russian project, countries such as Germany, Austria, the Netherlands and France are interested in it. Criticizing Nord Stream 2, Romania thus automatically opposes its close partners from an economic and geographical point of view, ”Frolov said.