Petrol in Moldova will get cheaper while diesel will get more expensive, but experts forecast a slowdown of the oil market growth - ANRE.
The National Energy Regulatory Agency (ANRE) says the International Energy Agency forecasts a slowdown in the oil market growth in the second half of the year, while current data show growing pressure on production capacity on the European continent. As NARE noted, the International Energy Agency (IEA) in its latest monthly oil market report of June 15 mentions a possible rebalancing of the sector in the second half of the year, mainly due to increased OPEC+ supply and the release of strategic reserves, as well as a moderate increase in oil demand. Global refining capacity is projected to increase by 1 million barrels per day in 2022 and 1.6 million barrels per day in 2023. However, markets are expected to remain constrained, especially for diesel and jet fuel (kerosene) supplies. After 7 consecutive quarters of significant inventory accumulation, slowing demand growth and increasing global oil supply by the end of the year should help rebalance global oil markets. However, IEA notes in its report that these expectations may be short-lived as tougher sanctions against Russia take full effect and oil demand in China recovers from the lifting of restrictions due to Covid-19. At the same time, current trends on the European market show a growing level of demand, especially for diesel fuel due to dependence on supplies from Russia. ANRE reminded that before the war in Ukraine, imports from Russia accounted for about 15% of diesel fuel consumption in Europe. Added to all these factors, there is also a decline in refining in Central Europe, caused by a mechanical incident at a crude distillation plant at the Schwechat refinery (Austria), which forced the Hungarian government to release some of its strategic stocks, Reuters reported. Consequently, an atypical trend of exceeding Platts quotations for diesel and gasoline has been observed in recent exchange sessions. The situation was similar in late March and early April, when diesel prices even exceeded gasoline prices. For comparison, while the Platts price of gasoline was $99 per ton higher than the price of diesel on June 1, the price of diesel exceeded the price of gasoline by $42 per ton on June 15. Based on Platts prices for petroleum products on international stock exchanges over the last 14 days, the following maximum retail prices for main standard type petroleum products were established in Moldova as of June 17: gasoline COR 95 - 33.80 lei/liter (-0.1 lei); diesel fuel - 32.24 lei/liter (+0.3 lei). ANRE reminds us that the petroleum product pricing mechanism, effective September 1, 2021, is designed to provide consumers with fair, transparent and easily verifiable prices, with changes in the international market accurately reflected in the price, both as Platts quotes rise and fall. // 16.06.2022 - InfoMarket
