Beyond Compensations: Infrastructure Reconstruction and Sabotage Risks Dictate the New Gas Price Floor in 2026 — NRG-IA

The New Equilibrium: Why Returning to Previous Prices is an "Illusion" The European energy market, and implicitly Romania's, is undergoing a structural redefinition where old price benchmarks are becoming irrelevant. Recent statements from government officials and economic analysts highlight a harsh reality: state resources to compensate for cost increases are limited, and the factors driving price hikes are largely external and persistent. Ionuț Dumitru, honorary advisor to the Prime Minister, recently noted that the expectation for prices to return to pre-crisis levels is "an illusion." This perspective is supported by market data indicating that government interventions, while necessary to stop sudden spikes, cannot cancel long-term inflationary trends. In this context, the analysis of natural gas prices must account not only for immediate supply and demand but also for the cost of security and infrastructure reconstruction. OPEC+ and the Hidden Cost of Post-Conflict Reconstruction…