On June 27^th, the national seminar on “Role of CCS in low carbon transition. Challenges & Opportunities for carbon storage in Romania” (original title: “Rolul CCS/CSC în tranziția către un viitor fără carbon. Provocări & Oportunități pentru stocarea carbonului în România”) took place in Bucharest.

In this seminar organized in partnership with the Federation of Oil and Gas Producers and the National Agency for Mineral Resources, EPG launched the roadmap for advancing CCS in Romania. Radu Dudău, director of EPG, presented the roadmap and moderated a discussion with panellists spanning government, industry and academia. The main takeaway of the event was that there is significant interest in CCS­ both from authorities and industry, but Romania is at an early stage in the journey of advancing CCS – both from a regulatory and a business perspective. Some concrete actions for advancing CCS projects are being proposed by the oil and gas industry, an important player in the area. The issue of public acceptance was also mentioned, but as many other aspects of CCS, it remains to be debated in the nearest future.

“There is clearly an interest [in CCS] from authorities and businesses, but we are in very early stages. A hotly debated topic is the one of geological CO₂ storage capacities and the estimates of Romania’s potential. Here, the Romanian oil and gas industry may have some concrete solutions, but more action will be needed from government authorities” – Radu Dudău concluded the seminar.