Brent Falls to $71.99: Fuel Prices in Romania and the EU — NRG-IA

Crude oil ended the week with one of its sharpest corrections since the outbreak of the conflict with Iran. On Friday, June 26, Brent fell by 4.34% to $71.99/barrel , while WTI closed at $69.23/barrel . Compared to the $96/barrel peak reached by Brent in early June, the European benchmark has lost about 25%. The market reacted to the resumption of crude loadings at the Saudi terminal of Ras Tanura, rising Gulf exports, and the prospect of supply returning faster than Asian demand can absorb the new volumes. However, the decline does not mean the Strait of Hormuz has returned to normal. Vessels are transiting the area again, but through restricted corridors, under escort, and in a climate where the attack on the Ever Lovely vessel near Oman has kept insurance, security, and fleet availability risks high. Bloomberg estimates that regional exports have recovered to about 75% of pre-war levels, a rebound sufficient for traders to begin pricing in a short-term oil surplus once again. For Romanian drivers, the question is not just how much Brent has lost, but how much of this correction will filter through to the gasoline and diesel sold at the pump. The answer does not emerge overnight and does not depend solely on the price of crude. Romanian Pumps: 8.66 RON/l for Gasoline and 9.22 RON/l for Diesel At 08:06 on June 27, the national average price monitored across 1,390 stations was 8.66 RON/l for standard gasoline and 9.22 RON/l for standard diesel . The national range was between 8.42 and 9.25 RON/l for gasoline, and between 8.54 and 9.34 RON/l for diesel. A 50-liter tank cost, on average, 433 RON for gasoline and 461 RON for diesel . In Bucharest, the lowest prices displayed on the morning of June 27 were 8.62 RON/l for gasoline and 9.18 RON/l for diesel. In Cluj-Napoca, the monitored minimums were 8.59 RON/l for gasoline and 9.09 RON/l for diesel. Differences between retail networks are currently small because Emergency Ordinance (GEO) 19/2026 caps the average commercial markup for gasoline and diesel at the 2025 annual average until June 30. This intervention is not an absolute price cap at the pump. It limits the commercial markup component, not the price of the refined product, crude costs, logistics, exchange rates, excise duties, or VAT. In other words, while a company cannot freely increase its retail margin during a crisis, gasoline and diesel prices can still rise or fall based on actual supply costs. In the current estimated price structure, excise duties and VAT total approximately 3.41 RON/l for gasoline and 3.33 RON/l for diesel . The excise duty is fixed at 2.03 RON/l for gasoline and 1.855 RON/l for diesel, and the 19% VAT is also applied on top of the excise duty. This fiscal component explains why a drop of a few dollars in crude oil cannot be mechanically converted into an equivalent reduction at the pump. Romania Already Saw Drops in the First Half of the Month, but Diesel Remains Expensive The latest comparable data from the European Commission, collected for June 22 and published in the Weekly Oil Bulletin on June 25, shows that Romania had an average price of 1.634 euro/l for Euro Super 95 and 1.729 euro/l for diesel . At the EU-27 level, the weighted average was 1.761 euro/l for gasoline and 1.730 euro/l for diesel . Thus, in the latest homogeneous European comparison, Romanian gasoline was nearly 12.8 eurocents/l below the EU average, while diesel was practically on par with the European average. Romania is no longer the very cheap fuel market indicated by comparisons in previous years, especially in the diesel segment, where the gap with the Union average has almost vanished. For regional context, the European Commission data as of June 22 showed the following values: Romania: 1.634 euro/l gasoline and 1.729 euro/l diesel; Bulgaria: 1.496 euro/l gasoline and 1.539 euro/l diesel; Poland: 1.381 euro/l gasoline and 1.404 euro/l diesel; Hungary: 1.636 euro/l gasoline and 1.680 euro/l diesel; Germany: 1.870 euro/l gasoline and 1.729 euro/l diesel; Greece: 1.932 euro/l gasoline and 1.641 euro/l diesel. Romania remains cheaper than Western European markets for gasoline, but diesel is much closer to the European average and higher than benchmarks in Bulgaria, Poland, or Hungary. During the first three weeks of June, Romanian pumps already reflected part of the international correction. The official average price of gasoline fell from approximately 1.836 euro/l on June 1 to 1.634 euro/l on June 22, a drop of about 11%. Diesel fell more slowly, from approximately 1.804 euro/l to 1.729 euro/l, equivalent to a reduction of about 4.2%. Over the same period, the EU average decreased by approximately 4.7% for gasoline and 6.2% for diesel. The difference between the two products is significant. Gasoline and diesel do not track Brent identically. Each has its own refined product market, its own balance between refineries, imports, transport demand, inventories, and the availability of fuel tankers.…