Romania’s main fuel retailers complied with April-June margin cap, preliminary review finds
Romania’s Competition Council found no margins above 2025 averages at OMV Petrom, Rompetrol, MOL România and Socar România during the April-June 2026 cap. It is seeking clarification from Petrotel-Lukoil, Lukoil România and Nis Petrol/Gazprom while examining 65 potentially higher reported values.
Leading operators remain within 2025 margin levels
Romania’s main fuel-market operators with comparable data complied with the commercial margin ceiling between April and June 2026, according to a preliminary Competition Council review reported by Economica.net, EVZ and Adevărul. The average margin applied by each operator from 1 April through 30 June was limited under Emergency Ordinance No. 19/2026 to that operator’s annual average for 2025.
Data for OMV Petrom, Rompetrol, MOL România and Socar România did not indicate margins above their respective 2025 levels. Competition Council president Bogdan Chirițoiu said the authority was continuing to monitor the fuel market and would complete the analysis after reviewing the available information.
Regulator examines 65 reported discrepancies
The review covers information submitted to Romania’s tax authority, ANAF, by companies engaged in the production, import, distribution and sale of gasoline and diesel. The database contained 824 operators that reported information for at least one of the periods examined. Comparable submissions for both 2025 and the April-June 2026 period were available for 536 operators.
The preliminary analysis identified 65 situations in which reported 2026 values appeared higher than the 2025 reference level for at least one product or sales channel. The Competition Council stressed that these cases require individual verification and do not yet constitute final findings of non-compliance.
Further clarification is required from Petrotel-Lukoil, Lukoil România and Nis Petrol/Gazprom because some submitted information was incomplete or inconsistent. The authority also found possible reporting errors, including incorrect product classifications, overlaps between original and amended declarations, missing units of measurement and apparently erroneous values. It will continue the checks with ANAF and request additional information where necessary.
Diesel tax cut passes through to pump prices
Separately, the Council is monitoring pump prices following a 20% reduction in diesel excise duty from 16 August. Economica.net and Adevărul reported that the measure was equivalent to 68 bani per litre. Average standard diesel prices initially fell from about 10.74 lei per litre to 10.10 lei, with the main operators cutting pump prices by 68 bani. One company already under state supervision reduced its price by 53 bani.
Diesel subsequently rose by about 13-15 bani per litre to approximately 10.23 lei, leaving it around 50-53 bani below the level before the tax reduction. Chirițoiu said diesel prices were also being shaped by refined-product quotations, diesel shortages and supply problems, with international diesel quotations remaining high and pressure coming mainly from refining.
On 17 August, tax-inclusive diesel averaged €2.030 per litre in Romania, nearly matching the EU average of €2.033. The Romanian price excluding taxes was about 6% lower, at €1.142 per litre compared with €1.210 across the EU. Standard gasoline averaged about 9.55 lei per litre on 24 August; gasoline was around 6% below the EU average including taxes and 8% lower excluding taxes. During the April-June cap, Romanian fuel prices had been as much as 10% below the EU average with taxes and 20% lower without taxes, but that gap narrowed after the margin-cap methodology changed.