ROMANIA: Fuel prices in Romania now exceed those in several European countries. Diesel has become more expensive than in the Czech Republic, Poland and even Spain
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The increase in fuel excise duties, which came into effect on January 1, is also having an impact on the European ranking of pump prices. Romania is climbing the price ladder, especially for diesel.
While Romania traditionally had the second-lowest price of automotive fuels in the European Union, surpassed only by Bulgaria among the countries with significant consumption, the situation has changed, and our market has climbed into the ranking of those with high prices.
Thus, according to the latest data from Oil Bulletin, the Commission’s European Union price monitoring service, valid on January 6, the average price of gasoline in Romania is 1.475 euros per liter. At this level, we are already significantly more expensive than Bulgaria, the market we traditionally compare ourselves to, where the price is 1.28 euros per liter.
And gasoline is also cheaper than here in Cyprus (1.39 euros), the Czech Republic (1.42 euros), Poland (1.44 euros), Malta (1.34 euros) and, slightly, above Lithuania (1.471 euros). However, our price remains significantly below the weighted average of the European Union, which is 1.67 euros per liter.
The situation is somewhat worse for diesel, which is the most used fuel in Romania and which our market also imports, because traditionally the three refineries in our country produce more gasoline and less diesel.
For diesel, the average price in Romania on January 6 was 1.5 euros per liter, according to Oil Bulletin data. Over 20 eurocents, or approximately one leu, higher than the price in neighboring Bulgaria, where the price is 1.29 euros per liter. And there are many more EU member states where diesel is cheaper than here.
Thus, prices lower than in Romania are, in addition to Bulgaria, in Cyprus (1.47 euros), in the Czech Republic (1.40 euros), in Luxembourg (1.48 euros), in Malta (1.21 euros), in Poland (1.46 euros), in Spain (1.45 euros), and the price in Slovakia is now the same as in our country, about 1.5 euros per liter. Our price has come quite close to the weighted average of the European Union, which is 1.59 euros per liter.
We remind you that from the beginning of the year until January 9, customers in Romania have experienced three successive price increases, which have increased the price of gasoline and diesel by 25 and 24 bani per liter, respectively, compared to the levels in the last month of last year.
The largest price increase came on January 1, and was then generated by the entry into force of the new excise taxes on fuels for this year, an increase by decision of the Government. Prices then increased by 17 bani per liter for gasoline and 16 bani per liter for diesel, an increase that mathematically reflected the increase in excise taxes. In 2024, also as a result of the increase in excise taxes, which was much more substantial, prices increased, for this reason alone, by 72 bani per liter for gasoline and by 66 bani per liter for diesel.
In addition to taxes, which have been increasing in our country for two years, the price of fuels depends on the prices of petroleum products in the area, the leu-dollar exchange rate (the dollar has been appreciating lately), and the specific refining, transportation, and distribution costs of companies.
