Chisăliță: Black Sea gas exploitation offers Romania a historic opportunity, but resources do not automatically create prosperity
The exploitation of Black Sea gas offers Romania a historic opportunity, but the true strategic value lies not in the extracted gas, but in how the resulting revenues will be used, says Dumitru Chisăliță, president of the Intelligent Energy Association (AEI).
'The exploitation of Black Sea gas offers Romania a historic opportunity. For the first time in decades, the country can once again become the largest gas producer in the European Union. The benefits are clear: reduced imports, a strengthened trade balance, budget revenues, and increased competitiveness for industry. But the true strategic value lies not in the extracted gas, but in how the resulting revenues will be used. History is full of resource-rich states that remained vulnerable because they confused natural wealth with development. Resources do not automatically create prosperity. The difference is made by institutions, investments, and the state's ability to transform natural advantages into economic and technological advantages,' he said in a press release sent to AGERPRES on Sunday.
The specialist emphasizes that Romania must not only exploit Black Sea gas but must transform this opportunity into a broad program of modernization, development of energy infrastructure, expansion of nuclear capacity, investments in renewable energy, digitalization of networks, and support for a new industrial policy.
'The public debate, however, remains captive to artificial oppositions: gas or renewables, nuclear or solar, state or market, Brussels or Bucharest. In reality, large modern energy systems function through complementarity. Nuclear energy provides stability, hydropower ensures flexibility, renewables reduce costs and emissions, and natural gas remains the transition fuel that balances the system. Digitalization and storage capacities integrate these sources into a resilient infrastructure,' says Chisăliță.
According to him, energy independence does not result from choosing a single technology but from the ability to intelligently combine all available resources.
Equally important is how Romania views the energy transition.
'Too often, it is presented exclusively as a climate obligation imposed by the European Union. In reality, it represents the greatest global industrial competition of our generation. The stakes are not just reducing emissions but controlling the technologies that will define the economy of the future. The states that will prosper are not those that buy turbines, batteries, or reactors, but those that design, produce, and export them. From this perspective, Black Sea gas should be seen only as a starting point,' says the AEI president.
In this sense, he warns that if Romania limits itself to exporting raw materials and importing the technologies needed for its own modernization, the competitive advantage will be quickly exhausted.
'Instead, if the generated revenues support the development of a competitive national industry—production of electrical equipment, components for smart grids, batteries, nuclear technologies, energy software, and applied research—energy can truly become the engine of a new stage of industrialization. This is the real stake: transforming energy into industrial competitiveness and sustainable prosperity,' explains Dumitru Chisăliță.
In this context, Romania needs consistent investments in education, technical universities, research, and innovation, so that Romanian companies participate in major European projects as technology developers, not merely as buyers of these future products.
'Economic patriotism takes on a new meaning. It does not mean artificially protecting inefficient companies or rejecting foreign investments. It means consistent investments in education, technical universities, research, and innovation, so that Romanian companies participate in major European projects as technology developers, not merely as buyers of these future products. It also means creating real opportunities for young engineers, researchers, and entrepreneurs, so that every leu spent brings another leu to society. It means Romania no longer loses its human capital. A country that loses its specialists inevitably reduces its ability to capitalize on its own resources,' he said.
According to the specialist, energy also has an essential geopolitical dimension, as Romania can become one of the main providers of energy security for the Black Sea region and Europe.
'The interconnections with the Republic of Moldova have already demonstrated that energy infrastructure can become a foreign policy tool. In the future, Romania can contribute decisively to strengthening the energy independence of the Republic of Moldova, integrating the Balkans, and rebuilding Ukraine's energy infrastructure. In all these situations, energy ceases to be just a commodity and becomes an instrument of strategic influence. From this perspective, membership in the European Union does not limit Romania's ambitions but amplifies them. The single market, European funds, and common negotiation mechanisms offer tools that no state the size of Romania could build alone. Of course, European integration involves negotiations and compromises. But all major European states promote their interests within the Union, not outside it. Germany defends its industry, France supports its nuclear model, Poland pursues its energy goals consistently. None confuse defending national interest with rejecting the European project. That is the lesson Romania must learn. It does not need less Europe, but more Romanian competence in Europe—institutions capable of negotiating intelligently, experts who participate in drafting European policies, and political leaders concerned with building sustainable alliances, not with the electoral exploitation of public frustrations,' says Chisăliță.
The association president emphasizes that Romania is at a rare moment in its history, as it has significant natural resources, a strategic geographic position, and access to European financing at a time when energy security is redefining the continent's balance of power.
'Romania's problem is not a lack of resources or potential. What is missing are honest people with vision, capable of transforming these advantages into a coherent national project that reconciles patriotism with European integration, national interest with cooperation, and security with modernization. If Romania continues to view energy only as an economic sector, it will miss one of the most important opportunities of its generation. But if it understands that energy is the foundation of a new industrial policy and a new regional influence, then it will prove that authentic patriotism does not mean withdrawing from Europe but actively participating in defining its future. Ultimately, the decisive confrontation of the next decade will not pit nationalists against Europeans. It will separate the states that will transform the energy transition into a competitive advantage from those that will continue to consume the future in sterile disputes about the past. Romania has all the premises to be in the first category. It only needs the political will to follow this direction,' he added. AGERPRES/(AS - editor: Oana Tilică, online editor: Ada Vîlceanu)
