During her intervention on Thursday, September 3, at Digi24, Eugenia Gusilov explained that the fact that the fuel excise tax reduction was absorbed by the market in a single day has nothing to do with the Strait of Hormuz. Instead, the pressure comes from the regional diesel market in the Mediterranean and Black Sea basins.

She noted that we are witnessing a reconfiguration of trade flows over the last two months, as actors who previously supplied the regional market with diesel, such as Russia and Turkey, have turned into buyers. Practically, the price of diesel increases because Russian diesel has disappeared from the regional balance.

On one hand, Russia has lost important refining capacities, leading it to halt diesel exports from July 8 and even look to buy diesel on the market. At the same time, Turkey stopped importing diesel fuel from Russian ports and started purchasing on the free market. When former regional sellers stop delivering and start bidding for the same volumes available on the open market, demand suddenly increases, and the price per ton of diesel goes up for everyone.

Furthermore, Gusilov emphasized that a correct analysis of the price at the pump requires looking at the cost structure of each gas station chain separately, because supply differs radically:

- Rompetrol brings crude oil from Kazakhstan, refines it at Midia Navodari, and distributes it through its own network.
- OMV Petrom refines at Petrobrazi approximately two-thirds of domestic crude oil and one-third of imported crude oil.
- Socar brings diesel from its own STAR refinery in Turkey to supply the roughly 100 stations it operates in Romania, while also engaging in trading activities.
- MOL should theoretically have a lower price at the pump because it refines Russian crude oil, which is significantly cheaper than Brent and arrives via pipelines, thereby bypassing the Black Sea where higher insurance premiums apply.