LUKOIL Romania and Rompetrol are on the list of companies that could be negatively influenced by the rise in price per barrel. The General Manager of LUKOIL Romania, Constantin Tampiza, said the rise in the price of oil will lead to lower fuel sales on the Romanian market, because expectations for increasing purchasing power are very low.
“The Romanian demand for fuel will drop if the price continues to rise. The purchasing power is low and sales will drop,” said Tampiza. He added that the price of oil could exceed $100/barrel (€70.58/barrel) by year-end, mainly because of conflicts between Turkey and Iraq.
Dan Pazara, Communication Manager of Romania’s largest oil company, Petrom, said that estimates for turnover and profit in 2007 have not been revised so far. “A higher price per barrel of oil affects our exploration and production activities, since we import certain quantities of oil to ensure that our refineries run at full capacity,” Pazara added.
The President of the Rompetrol group, Dinu Patriciu, told The Money Channel that “large investment banks already foresee that the price will range between $100-150/barrel [€70.58- 105.88/barrel] in the coming 6-12 months”. He added that this is a normal evolution, related to the imbalance between reserves and consumption. However, Rompetrol’s financial results will not be affected “as long as refinery margins do not exceed their limits,” said the group’s President.
