OMV: fuel market is free

Austria”s Wolfgang Ruttenstorfer, the chairman of OMV, the main shareholder in Petrom, came out personally on Wednesday to defend the price policy adopted by the company for the Romanian market.

Despite being one of the poorest markets in Europe, fuel prices in Romania are higher than in countries such as Greece and Malta, and close to prices in Germany, France, Sweden and Great Britain.

“Petrom”s prices are set depending on international quotations for oil products, and making prices at the pumps lower than the market level would breach the European Union”s competition principles,” said Ruttenstorfer, who is chairman of the Petrom board.

“The prices for fuel in Romania are significantly lower than the average for the European Union. We cannot guarantee price stability for Petrom, OMV or Romania. That would be utterly impossible. We have to follow market fluctuations. If Petrom followed another price, it would mean promoting a dumping policy against its competitors, such as Rafo and LukOil,” explained Ruttenstorfer. This, said Ruttenstorfer, would have a considerable impact on the other refineries in Romania, which do not have any oil reserves and import the entire quantity of crude oil they process, and would put them in the situation of no longer being able to pay taxes to the state and bring them to the verge of bankruptcy.

The competition would then be more likely to see exports as profitable, which would entail hardships in terms of supplying the domestic market, the OMV head continued. The average gross price for 95 octane petrol in Romania is 0.989 euros per litre, compared with a European Union average of 1.244 euros per litre, Petrom representatives say.

The latest price hikes by Petrom and the other oil companies have caused a stir among the authorities, prompting Traian Basescu, Romania”s president, to voice his concern. Last week he asked the Competition Council to check the appropriateness of the move to increase fuel prices, and the authority has already launched an investigation into the matter. Following this, Petrom announced two consecutive cuts at the pumps, citing fluctuations in oil product prices on the international market.

The OMV head said the cuts had been determined exclusively by the company”s policy of rapidly adjusting to the level of international quotations for oil products and had nothing to do with the statements by the president or the investigation by the Competition council.

Petrom”s prices have now returned to the level seen before Hurricane Katrina. A similar phenomenon has been seen in other countries, say Petrom officials.

Ruttenstorfer announced that OMV and Petrom would offer the president”s office all necessary support in assessing the privatisation process.

adrian.mirsanu@zf.ro