The second consecutive day of significant fuel price increases due to the war in Iran. The government could reduce taxes and excises

The price of fuel has recorded the second consecutive significant increase since the outbreak of the Iran war.

OMV Petrom carried out last night the second price hike, a considerable one, after having raised prices by 15 bani/l on Wednesday, both for gasoline and diesel, according to data analyzed by Profit.ro.

Thus, standard gasoline costs 8.17-8.22 lei/l at Petrom stations in the Capital and 8.26-8.31 lei/l at OMV stations, being 24 bani more expensive than during the period of February 28-March 3.

Regarding standard diesel, the price has increased to 8.48-8.52 lei/l at Petrom stations and to 8.57-8.61 lei/l at OMV stations, after having risen on Wednesday to 8.39-8.43 lei/l and 8.48-8.52 lei/l from a level of 8.24-8.28 lei/l and 8.33-8.37 lei/l recorded just 2 days ago.

Possible reduction of excise duty

The Minister of Energy, Bogdan Ivan, announced on Wednesday evening that the Government is considering a possible reduction of taxes and excise duties in the final price of fuels, in order not to exceed the psychological threshold of 10 lei per liter for gasoline and diesel.

"We are doing everything necessary to avoid reaching that point. We are considering how we can temper this increase, including from the realignment area, with a certain difference, for a limited period of time in the fiscal areas, including excise duties. There are working scenarios that we are currently working on," said the Minister of Energy on Antena3.

Bogdan Ivan stated that the Government has already taken measures to prevent a surge in fuel prices.

"We see these fuel market fluctuations in the context of already record prices for both gasoline and diesel. Here we have two other elements that we have done: one is to ensure that we have commercial routes that do not depend on the Strait of Hormuz, which is blocked today.

We intervened together with the Competition Council, ANAF, and ANPC to ensure very clearly that, against the emotional backdrop of price increases internationally, there is no tendency for some operators to profit and artificially raise prices. These are three measures that the Romanian Government has clearly and efficiently taken to handle this global shock affecting every nation on Earth; we have ensured that Romania is less affected," said Ivan.

The Minister of Energy added that, for now, after the shock caused in the market by the Iran war and the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, fuel prices in Romania are lower than in Western Europe.

Subsequently, on Thursday morning, when asked on Digi24 if he is considering a reduction in excise duty for fuels, Ivan replied: "I am not the Minister of Finance to take such a measure."

"It is evident that together with the Minister of Finance, the Prime Minister, the other colleagues in the coalition, the President of the Chamber of Deputies, we are working on several scenarios, including this scenario. But I cannot provide you with an exact amount at this moment, but our goal is very clear: to protect the population as much as possible, and this psychological threshold mentioned on TV (10 lei per liter of gasoline, editor's note) I can tell you is still far from being reached at the moment. So we are doing everything in our power to avoid that, to make this very clear, but we cannot control what the Iranians or the Houthi rebels or others in the Middle East do," he explained.

Transporters' requests

The Federation of Romanian Transport Operators (FORT) urges the Romanian Government to urgently adopt measures to limit the impact of the oil price increase on fuels, including partial return of excise duty to transporters, temporary reduction of excise duty on diesel, and analyzing the price capping on fuel, according to a press release.

"In the context of geopolitical tensions and the volatility of international energy markets, there is a risk of a rapid increase in fuel prices at the pump, which would have negative effects on the transport sector, logistics costs, and, implicitly, on the prices of goods and services in the economy.

FORT requests the inclusion in the State Budget for 2026 of the necessary amounts for the partial return of the excise duty of 65 bani/liter to transporters for the entire year 2026, an essential measure to maintain the competitiveness of Romanian transporters compared to operators from other EU member states," the press release states.

At the same time, FORT representatives request a temporary reduction of excise duty on diesel.