Petrol currently costs as much as it did in the first quarter of last year and diesel oil has reached the same price as in December 2007, even though the oil barrel no longer costs 90 dollars, but fell below 70 dollars. How can this be explained?
The main factor that prevented fuel prices from seeing a significant decrease was the depreciation of the RON against the US currency over the past year, say the representatives of the main petroleum companies. Therefore, even though the barrel price currently stands at 70 dollars, converted in RON it amounts to 90 dollars from late 2007, considering a dollar currently costs 3 RON and stood at 2.45 RON in December 2007.
Petroleum industry players say that the increase in excise duties and in petroleum product taxes had a strong impact on pump prices. Moreover, even though the barrel did double in value since the beginning of the year (from 30 to 70 dollars), fuel prices have not risen that fast, despite the 18 price raises operated in the above-mentioned period.
"Against a backdrop of an over 75% increase in crude oil quote from January through June, the price of the diesel oil sold during the same period increased by approximately 7%, and the price of petrol went up by 28%. The trend of fuel prices in 2008-2009 was also significantly influenced by the increase by about 11 dollars per tonne of the excise tax, the depreciation by 28% of the RON/USD exchange rate and by 15.5% of the RON/EUR rate, as well as by the 13.5% rise in the tax to the Special Petroleum Product Fund," explain the representatives of Rompetrol, a company with a 1.7 billion-euro business in fuel distribution, which accounts for 25% of this market.
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