The price of Romanian fuels at the pump has decreased, in trend with the fall of quotations this week for crude oil (8%) and quotations for gasoline (9%), says Dumitru Chisaliita, president of the Intelligent Energy Association (AEI). Thus, the lowest price according to the peco-online platform in Bucharest is of 8.06 lei per liter (petrol), with 0.59 lei/ liter (7%) below the price from June 30, 2022, as a result of the Government’s action, but also due to suppliers decisions.
“At European level, we are also witnessing in the last week a decrease in the price of gasoline at the level of all countries with an average percentage of about 0.5%. From the analysis of the behavior of the Romanian gas stations in relation to the European ones, we can see that some of them reacted more than those from other European countries, coming with higher decreases in the pump price,” says Dumitru Chisăliță.
Brent crude oil futures have remained around $104 a barrel and are expected to close 8% lower this week amid concerns about a global recession expected to affect energy demand, which have overcome persistent supply problems. The international benchmark has fallen by more than 6% so far this week, following a broader decline in commodity markets.
“Oil prices have been rising by about 35% since the beginning of the year, and the global economic recovery since the Pandemic has coincided with the disruption of Russia’s supply due to the conflict in Ukraine. In the latest developments, a key export route for Kazakh oil risks being suspended as a result of a Russian court ruling to temporarily close it. This pipeline is still working, the decision of the Russian court has not yet been sanctioned on the stock exchange. Thus, the closure of the CPC pipeline is likely to bring a further increase in oil prices until the stabilization of alternative routes for the transportation of Kazakh crude oil.
However, the IEA foreshadows the continuation of the downward trend in oil prices below the level of $100/ barrel, respectively an estimated cut of 15-17%.
“This decrease in the price of crude oil and the maintenance of the governmental measure even after the 3 months of applicability, should theoretically lead to a decrease in the price of gasoline at the pump below 7 lei per liter of gasoline. Unfortunately, this potential decrease in crude oil prices will be partially canceled in Romania by the increase of the RON/USD exchange rate (increase of 11% in the last 6 months), by the increase of refining costs, of the increase of transport, insurance and most likely by the fact that the administrative measures to reduce the price of gasoline will not be extended, thus, the hope of Romanians can only hope for a price of gasoline below 8 lei per liter,” he added.
