Experts consider the rocketing prices of fuel prices are due to the growing demand on the international market and to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Other experts think the oil prices are influenced also by the calculation formula applied by the National Agency for Energy Regulation, IPN reports.
Energy expert Sergiu Tofilat said the incapacity of the oil producing companies to cope with the demand and the security crisis in the region push the prices of gasoline and diesel fuel up. The phenomenon is provisional and the shock on the oil market is expected to diminish soon.
“First of all, the relaunch of the economy led to an increased demand. The flights, fright and passenger transportation operations were resumed. More oil products started to be consumed. The countries producing oil do not manage to keep pace with extraction. There is a shortage of oil because the demand grew suddenly, while extraction does not mean pushing the button for the oil to pour. Putin’s aggression against Ukraine is the second factor. We are witnessing the main consumers’ boycott of the oil exported by the Russian Federation,” Sergiu Tofilat stated in the program “In Depth” on ProTV Chisinau channel.
Economic expert Veaceslav Ioniță said that besides the foreign factors that push the prices up, there is also the national legislation that favors large oil companies.
“The politicians considered imposing sanctions or not. 70% of the Russian oil is no longer bought. But the price calculation formula in Moldova is inappropriate as the current oil price is different from the price at which oil was imported by companies two weeks ago. The good news is that the Commission for Exceptional Situation decreed that the wholesale prices of diesel fuel should not be higher than the retail prices of diesel fuel,” stated Veaceslav Ioniță.
Under the law, the retail price ceilings for the standard oil products are set by the National Agency for Energy Regulation based on the average value of Platts quotations for the last 14 days, the official average exchange rate for the last 14 days, the profit margin and the value of the excise duties and VAT.
