The Ministry of Energy published a new draft emergency ordinance on Monday evening that provides for the declaration of a crisis situation on the crude oil and petroleum products market and the limitation of the commercial markup practiced by economic operators that produce, import, distribute and sell gasoline, diesel and the raw materials used to obtain them.

According to the cited document, the markup is limited to no more than 50% of the average commercial markup recorded in the last 12 months and the measure aims to avoid inappropriate behavior of economic operators and stop possible speculation tendencies, according to Agerpres.

The limitation of the commercial markup applies to the entire economic activity chain.

The initiators specify that the commercial markup is understood as the difference between the selling price and the production cost, respectively the acquisition cost, practiced by each economic operator.

The draft also stipulates that the export of petroleum products (petrol and diesel) will only be possible with the consent of the ministry responsible for the economy and the relevant ministry. ‘During the crisis, the export and/or intra-community deliveries of gasoline and diesel may be carried out by economic operators exclusively with the prior written consent issued by the Ministry of Economy, Digitalization, Entrepreneurship and Tourism and the Ministry of Energy’, the draft normative act states.

In context, the document stipulates that the performance by economic operators of export operations or intra-community deliveries of gasoline and/or diesel under conditions other than those provided for constitutes a contravention and is punishable by a fine of between 5% and 10% of turnover.

At the same time, measures are being established to prevent the sale of petroleum products at a price that exceeds the maximum price values ​​and the possibility is introduced for economic operators to reduce the biofuel content in the volumes of gasoline placed on the market from 8% to a minimum of 2% for gasoline, during the period of application of the protective measures.

Within 30 days of the end of the crisis situation, the relevant ministry will analyze and propose, if necessary, compensatory measures for economic operators, so that the national objectives regarding the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions are not affected.

The protective measures apply for a period of 6 months, which may be successively extended for periods of no more than 3 months, as long as the circumstances that determined the crisis situation persist.

“In the absence of these legislative interventions, there is a risk of affecting the continuity of supply to consumers and of operational blockages in the natural gas market,” states the explanatory note accompanying the draft normative act.

The events in the Middle East had major repercussions on the global oil market, especially in terms of crude oil prices: – the Brent price reached, on March 22, around 114 USD/barrel (with a maximum of 119.82 USD/barrel on March 19, compared to values ​​of around 65 USD/barrel at the beginning of February 2026).

Thus, at the national level, on March 22, the prices of standard gasoline and standard diesel reached an average level of 9.18 lei/liter and 9.91 lei/liter, respectively, the substantiation note states.

“The large increase in its prices in the recent period internationally is reflected in the dynamics of consumer prices, and leads to an increase in the inflation rate at the national level. These increases in crude oil and diesel prices put major pressure on the Romanian oil market, which depends on crude oil imports by about 75%,” explains the cited document.