Romanian Oil And Gas Laws - Oil, Gas & Electricity

Updated September 2015

The relevant Romanian oil and gas laws and regulations are:

Petroleum Law no. 238 of 2004, as amended and consolidated ("Petroleum Law")

Note: Under Petroleum Law the definition of "petroleum" covers both oil, and gas.
Methodological Norms for the Application of Petroleum Law ("Norms")
Technical instructions, and other regulations issued by the National Agency for Mineral Resources
Electricity and Natural Gas Law no. 123 of 2012 ("Electricity and Natural Gas Law")
Natural Gas Permitting and Licensing Regulations
Natural Gas Network Code, and other regulations issued by the Romanian Energy Regulatory Authority ("RERA")

Romania was one of the pioneering countries in the oil and gas sector. The recent commercial discoveries gave an impetus to investment in this sector. The legal framework of the petroleum industry is comprehensive and continues to be updated in line with the relevant European Directives and Regulations and international practice.

Regulatory Authorities

National Agency for Mineral Resources ("NAMR")

NAMR has the following attributions:

it acts not only as a regulatory authority, but it is also a party to the concession agreements;
it manages the petroleum resources which are the property of the State;
it is in charge of the storage and management of petroleum data and information, and the upkeep of the Petroleum Books for the petroleum blocks;
it has the power to issue mandatory norms, rules, and technical instructions for the application of the Petroleum Law;
it approves the work programs, drilling of exploration wells, well conservation and abandonment, re-entry, field commerciality, development plans, annual production plans, and assignments;
it certifies the technical competence of individuals or legal entities conducting petroleum operations, including operators under concession agreements;
it verifies compliance with laws and regulations.

NAMR may apply fines for failure to comply with the laws and regulations.

Romanian Energy Regulatory Authority ("RERA")

RERA regulates licensing and permitting for gas-related activities.

In relation to the surface, storage, transmission, transit, dispatching, and distribution facilities, RERA issues the following permits:

facility set up permit;
facility operation permit; and
facility alteration permit.

RERA also issues the following licenses:

natural gas supply license;
natural gas transmission license;
natural gas storage license;
natural gas dispatching license;
natural gas distribution license; and
natural gas transit license.

Ownership of petroleum resources

The definition of petroleum provided by Romanian Petroleum Law includes crude oil, condensate, and gas.

The title holder is defined as a party to a petroleum agreement concluded with the competent authority, i.e. NAMR.

The Petroleum Law provides that the underground petroleum resources are public property of the State.

The concession owners have the right to dispose of the oil and gas produced in the perimeters under concession.

Therefore, a question arose with regard to the transfer of petroleum resources to the title holders. The law is silent on this issue. This issue is resolved by including in the agreements clauses which provide that the transfer of the petroleum resources to the title holders takes place at well head.

NAMR is in charge of the management of the petroleum resources.

All data and information regarding petroleum resources are considered as the property of the State. The companies carrying out petroleum operations may use the relevant data and information for the duration of their operations. The transfer to third parties of data and information regarding petroleum resources must be approved by NAMR.

The works for the development and exploitation of the petroleum resources may be carried out only in relation to the reserves confirmed by NAMR. The documentation for the calculation of the reserves must be prepared by the title holder in accordance with the technical norms issued by NAMR.

Petroleum concession

The petroleum concession is the legal vehicle for the access of investors to petroleum resources.

The initial term of the concession may be of up to 30 years, and it may be extended for a period of up to 15 years.

The concessions for the exploration and production of petroleum resources are awarded through competitive tenders organized by NAMR.

A foreign company which was awarded a concession has the obligation to set up a branch or a subsidiary in Romania within 90 days from the effective date of the petroleum agreement.

The interested parties may initiate the concession award process. It is worth noting that an interested party may apply for non-exclusive exploration permit for a term of up to three years. As mentioned above, if the findings are satisfactory the respective party may initiate the concession award process.

The winning bidder will sign a concession agreement with NAMR. The concession agreement must be further approved by the Government and comes into effect on the date of such approval.

The title holder may assign the concession agreement with the prior approval of NAMR. The change of certain terms of the concession upon assignment may be negotiated with NAMR. In case of the restructuring of the company which is title holder of the concession agreement the concession will be transferred to the successor entity by an order of NAMR President.

Pursuant to Petroleum Law, the transfer of the rights and obligations to an area of a block covered by a concession agreement is possible. Thus, the title holder can transfer:

a quota of its rights and obligations under the concession agreement with regard to the entire block;
a quota of its rights and obligations under the concession agreement with regard to a petroleum area;
all rights and obligations under the concession agreement with regard to a petroleum area.

Further to the receipt of an application regarding the delimitation of petroleum areas within a block and regarding the approval of a partial transfer with regard to such petroleum area, NAMR determines whether the delimitation of the petroleum area is acceptable, and informs accordingly the applicants.

Partial relinquishment of the concession is possible, and is governed by the concession agreement.

The concession agreement terminates upon the expiry of the term of the agreement, and at the request of the title holder in case of force majeure.

Early termination at the request of the title holder is possible. The title holder will have to pay the amount representing the value of the minimum program works which were not performed, and if that is the case, the amount representing the value of the abandonment works which were not performed. Also, the title holder must submit to NAMR a certificate issued by the environmental agency which will attest the performance of the works for remediation of the damages caused to the environment. If the title holder complied with the above described obligations, and NAMR refuses to approve the termination, the title holder may take legal action in the court of competent jurisdiction.

In specific situations provided for by the Petroleum Law, NAMR may suspend the concession, or initiate the termination of the concession agreement.

Title holder's rights

Petroleum Law provides that the concessionaire has the following main rights:

access to and use of the land;
access to petroleum pipelines, harbours, terminals, and other necessary installations;
use of surface waters;
laying of the pipelines and construction of petroleum production and transportation facilities;
extension of the block to adjacent areas;
access to data re relevant petroleum operations;
to designate the Operator and the Operator's duties;
to dispose of its share of the petroleum production, including the right to export its petroleum share.

Title holder's obligations

Petroleum Law provides that the concessionaire has the following main obligations:

compliance with the laws, regulations, and the provisions of the petroleum agreement;
preparation of the technical and economic studies re the envisaged petroleum operations and submission thereof to NAMR;
reporting of all data re petroleum operations, and the controlling actions of the environment, and labour safety authorities to NAMR;
keeping confidential the petroleum agreement, and the data received from the Romanian authorities;
unitization, if required by NAMR;
training of Romanian personnel, and technology transfer;
payment of petroleum royalty.

Extension of the term of the work phases, change of work programs

NAMR must approve:

changes to the initial work programs, and extensions of the exploration, development, and production phases;
extension of the block to free adjacent areas; and
change of the estimation of petroleum reserves.

In our experience NAMR was flexible regarding the above matters.

Stabilization clauses

The stability of the petroleum agreement is an important principle for the investors in the oil and gas sector. The goal is to guarantee that the terms and conditions of the petroleum agreement in effect on the date of the signing will stay the same over the life of the agreement.

The principle of the stability of the petroleum agreement is incorporated by the Petroleum Law. Thus, the law provides that the terms of the petroleum agreement remain in effect for the duration of the agreement, save for the enactment of legal provisions that are more favourable to the title holder.

However, the law provides that the parties can amend the petroleum agreement by mutual agreement in case of occurrence of unforeseen circumstances.

Usually, in our experience, the petroleum agreements also include stabilization clauses.

Petroleum Royalties

The Concession Agreement is a royalty based contract.

The Petroleum Law provides for scaled royalties based on gross production. For crude oil the royalty ranges from 3.5% to 13.5%. For natural gas the royalty ranges from 3.5% to 13%.

The royalty is payable for each commercial field. The commerciality of the field is approved by NAMR. Production is allowed solely from reserves approved by NAMR.

The reference price for the calculation of the royalty is set by NAMR. The royalty is payable quarterly.

The fiscal legislation provides for the payment of penalties in case of delay of royalty payments. A delay for more than six months is a ground of termination of the concession agreement by NAMR.

Settlement of disputes

The petroleum agreements may provide for the settlement of disputes by the local courts of law, by arbitration in Romania, or by international arbitration.

Foreign investors in general want to resort to international arbitration.

Farmout/Farmin Agreement, Joint Operating Agreement

Any assignment of a working interest in a concession must be approved by NAMR. The parties must submit a joint application which will mention the interest quotas, the corporate approvals, and proof that the transferee is in good standing, and has adequate financial and technical capabilities to perform the petroleum operations.

On the date of the filing of the application the transferor must have complied with the obligations assumed under the petroleum agreement. If that is not the case, the transferee must assume the obligation to be responsible for the transferor's outstanding obligations as well.

The Farmout/Farmin Agreement and related documentation, e.g. Joint Operating Agreement, Instrument of Transfer, Novation, etc. do not have to be submitted to NAMR.

Access to land for petroleum operations

The Petroleum Law and the Electricity and Natural Gas Law create legal easements regarding access to land needed for petroleum operations and installations in favour of the title holders.

The Petroleum Law provides that the title holder must pay an annual rent to the land owner. If the parties fail to agree on the amount of the rent the dispute must be referred to the court of competent jurisdiction. The law provides that any damages claimed by a landlord will be estimated function of the value of the affected crop, or the market value of the land.

The Electricity and Natural Gas Law provides that the title holders have the following rights:

the right of use in relation to the necessary works for the rehabilitation of the gas production installations;
the right of use in relation with the normal operation and maintenance of the gas production installations;
the legal underground, surface, and air right of way for the installation of pipelines, power lines, or other equipment related to the gas production installations, and for the access to the location of such ancillary equipment;
the right to obtain the reduction or cease of activities which would endanger the gas installations, and the public safety, such like obtaining interdictions to build, to dig trenches, and to deposit materials in the protected zone, or to carry out any works which would affect the gas production installations, and the related pipelines;
right of access to utilities.

The statutory protection of the land easements for gas production operations was confirmed by court practice.

It is important to note that in addition to establishing a statutory easement for operations related to gas production, the law also gives the right to the concessionaire to demand the reduction or cease of activities of third parties in the vicinity of the gas installation, which could endanger the operation of the gas installations and equipment. The Electricity and Natural Gas Law spells out the interdictions to build, to dig trenches, and to deposit materials in the safety area, or to carry out any works which would affect the gas production installation, and the related pipelines, and equipment.

Furthermore, the Electricity and Natural Gas Law provides that the statutory easements for gas production are granted for the life of the gas production installation.

The Electricity and Natural Gas Law provides adequate legal basis for the statutory land easements related to gas production, and for their enforcement.

Petroleum transportation system

The National Petroleum Transportation System is public property of the State.

The systems for the transportation of oil and gas are operated by two state-owned companies, Conpet, and Transgaz respectively.

The above operators have the obligation to provide equal access to the interested parties. The Petroleum Law, and the Electricity and Natural Gas Law specify the cases in which the operators may deny access to the transportation systems. The party whose access to the transportation system was denied may file a complaint with the competent authority.

The access to the natural gas transmission system is regulated in accordance with the provisions of the EU Regulation no. 715 of 2009 regarding the Conditions of Access to the Gas Transmission Systems, and with the Romanian regulations.

The access to the National Gas Transmission System ("NTS") has three stages:

the inquiry to the operator of the NTS re the possibility to access the NTS in a specific area;
the booking by the respective applicant of capacity within the NTS;
the connection to the NTS.

The access to the upstream feeding pipelines is arranged in accordance with the provisions of the Romanian regulations and is granted by the respective operator of the upstream feeding pipeline.

The rules for the access to the storage facilities are provided by Romanian regulations.

The access is provided based on classes of priority, and according to the rule "first come, first served", within the same class of priority.

The tariffs regarding gas transmission services and gas storage are regulated by RERA.

Attestation and authorization of the technical competence

According to NAMR Order no. 122 of 2006, the companies and the professionals working in the oil and gas sector must obtain certificates of attestation of the technical competence. The certificates are issued by a Commission of Attestation set up by an order issued by NAMR. The above Order lists the documents which must be appended to the application for the issuance of the certificate of attestation. The documentation must include a memorandum regarding the relevant petroleum operations carried within three years prior to the submission, documents attesting the technical qualifications of the personnel, and documents regarding the financial capacity of the applicant.

According to RERA Order no. 98 of 2015, the companies and the professionals which perform activities regarding project design, execution, and operation of installations for the production, underground storage, transportation, distribution, and utilization of natural gas must be authorized by commissions appointed by RERA. The above Order no. 98 enumerates the documents which must be appended to the application for the issuance of the certificate of attestation.

Centralized Markets for Natural Gas

Currently there are two Centralized Markets for Natural Gas in Romania:

The Centralized Market for Natural Gas operated by OPCOM;
The Centralized Market for Natural Gas operated by the Romanian Commodities Exchange.

Both OPCOM and the Romanian Commodities Exchange issued procedures regarding the registration and participation of the participants to the Centralized Markets for Natural Gas, which were approved by RERA.

Starting with July 2014, RERA regulated the obligation of natural gas producers and suppliers to conclude transactions through the Centralized Markets for Natural Gas.

Thus, according to the Order no. 118 of 2014 of the President of RERA, in 2016 the natural gas producers have the obligation to sell on the Centralized Markets for Natural Gas at least 30% of the natural gas of their internal production for the internal consumption of the competition market, while in 2017 at least 25% of their internal production. The minimum amount to be sold on the Centralized Markets for Natural Gas is to be determined by RERA pursuant to the information provided by the natural gas producers.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.

Romania: Romanian Oil And Gas Laws