Meanwhile, Romania, long in the shadow of European majors despite being the EU’s third-largest gas producer, is poised to step up the game and ramp up its gas output as soon as possible. While traditionally Romania has been an onshore-producing country, its Black Sea deepwater fields bid fair to finally propel the country into the club of gas exporters. This will entail overcoming numerous challenges, be it lack of infrastructure or malign government interference—how Bucharest will resolve these will predetermined its success. Romania prides itself in having an oil and gas history that goes back more than 150 years. Romania joins other nations in claiming it had built the first oil refinery ever. It also claims that Bucharest was the first city to be illuminated with kerosene lamps. By the beginning of the 20 th century, Romania was globally among the leading oil producers—the history of WWII speaks volumes […]