MOL Romania, the local subsidiary of the Hungarian oil group MOL, has become the company with the most expensive fuel in the Barbu Văcărescu area, Bucharest, according to data published on the Price Monitor application, hosted by the Competition Council.
Thus, at this moment, a consumer who wants to refuel with standard gasoline from a MOL station in the Barbu Văcărescu area, Bucharest, has to pay between 8.4 and 8.6 lei per liter. The same liter of gasoline, from the same area, costs 7.5 lei at Petrom stations. At OMV, a liter of petrol can reach 7.8 lei, in the North Station area, for example, while at Lukoil the price per liter of standard petrol is 7.5 lei.
How did MOL Romania become the company with possibly the most expensive fuel in the country, in the context in which, usually, the price differences between the company and the competition are a few bucks?
“The ceilings the company is facing in Hungary have led to higher prices in other markets so that losses can be recovered,” say market sources.
According to an article in Hungary Today, in addition to the price cap of 1.3 euros per liter, Hungary has also introduced a quantity cap, which can vary depending on the station’s sales between 100 and 500 liters. The price cap has been in effect since November last year and has been extended until May this year. The problem is that during the analyzed period, the barrel of oil increased from $ 81 per barrel at the beginning of November to over $ 130 per barrel, but today the price is decreasing, up to $ 112 per barrel.
The Hungarian press also points out that since the introduction of this cap, MOL has been facing stock issues, with demand from stations being difficult to cover in the context in which many carriers are trying to take advantage of frozen prices. The company has not yet explained the price differences with other fuel retailers.
MOL is the state-owned oil company of Hungary, a country that has always shown loyalty to Putin.
At some stations, the price of gasoline reached 11 lei per liter, which generated a shock in the local market. Thus, thousands of Romanians stormed the gas stations, fearing that the price could easily escalate to that level.
“I call for calm: don’t stand in line. We have enough stocks, so there are NO arguments for unjustified and explosive price increases. Let us not get caught up in a hybrid war, especially in the current regional security context. As Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca also announced, the competent institutions will start extensive control actions at the gas stations because WE WILL NOT ALLOW SPECULATION! Let’s not get into the game of those who want to destabilize Romania! ”, Declared Virgil Popescu, Minister of Energy, on the official Facebook page.
In a previous post, the official also specified that the panic was created against the background of some prices from the Romanian-Hungarian border.
“I saw that price of 11 lei / liter of gasoline unjustified, and in this sense Romanians must know that in the neighboring country, in Hungary, a ceiling was set on the price of gasoline and diesel, and the product disappeared from the neighboring market. Gas stations in Hungary are no longer open non-stop and so this situation has started to affect the price at our border, but in independent gas stations. So at the border there is an exception and we are not talking about the lack of petrol and diesel. That is why I appeal to Romanians not to stand in line at gas stations because we have the necessary fuel and not at the price given as an example “, the minister added.
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