Two Moldovan companies cut liquefied petroleum gas price by three per cent

Two oil companies submitted the National Agency for Energy Regulation (ANRE) notifications announcing their 30-per-cent discount offer for the retail selling price of liquefied petroleum gas, the ANRE’s press release reads.

The retail selling price of liquefied petroleum gas fell to 8.97 lei per litre starting with 5 June.

The decrease in the price of liquefied petroleum gas was triggered by the decrease in the acquisition prices set up by providers. The ANRE notes that the average quarter import price of liquefied petroleum gas amounted to 791 dollars per month in the first quarter of 2013, less by 2.8 per cent against the same period of time in 2012. The average monthly import price declined to 671 dollars in April, and reached 665 dollars in May.

The price of the liquefied petroleum gas recorded a 10.3-per-cent growth and thus reached 8.98 lei by late 2012, against the 8.20-lei-price in January. Subsequently, it climbed to 9.27 per cent in January and February.

The ANRE’s data shows a significant 44.1-per-cent rise in the import of liquefied petroleum gas in 2012, whereas the consumption fell by 3.9 per cent in the same year.

According to the provisions of the current legislation, the ANRE cannot interfere on the competitiveness market in order to regulate the prices of petroleum products. In this context, prices are being set by petroleum companies based on the supply and demand as well as on several variable factors, such as the evolution of the oil price on the international market, evolution of the fuel external prices, evolution of the dollar/leu exchange rate and excise duty rates on the internal market. As regards the Moldovan petroleum market, the ANRE is only entitled to withdraw/suspend activity licences and monitor the market in order to prevent economic operators from exceeding a 10-per-cent income, as provided in the methodology of calculation and application of petroleum product prices.

Adapted from Moldpres