Romania’s energy minister proposes crisis mechanism for fuel market intervention

Romania’s energy minister Bogdan Ivan announced that the ministry he leads has submitted a draft normative act to the government aimed at declaring a crisis situation in the fuel sector, a move that would allow authorities to intervene more rapidly in the market.

So far, the government has intervened to tame the rise in fuel prices by providing a RON 0.85 per litre subsidy to transport companies, which accounts for some 10% of the price of diesel.

The mechanism proposed by the Ministry of Energy would grant the state additional powers to prevent artificial price increases and ensure sufficient fuel supply for the domestic market. One of the key measures under consideration is the possibility of restricting fuel exports derived from domestic production in order to prioritise internal consumption.

According to the minister, the draft is currently under government review, and a decision is expected after Parliament approves the 2026 budget.

“The Ministry of Energy has come up with a draft normative act (…) through which we would establish a crisis situation in the fuel sector, which gives us more rights as a state (…) to ensure that we can, when necessary, block fuel exports based on domestic production, precisely to ensure that we have satisfied the needs on the domestic market, with the exception of requests that could come from NATO,” Ivan said, as quoted by Bursa.ro.

(Photo source: Facebook/Ministerul Energiei)