The H1 financial results for the major Romanian oil companies - Petrom, Rompetrol, Lukoil and MOL, reveal not only different growth rates, but also contradictory developments. Where and why have these differences occurred?

The diverse results were not only because of each company's different business structures, but also the way each oil firm reacted to the very strong RON in the first half of the year.

At market level, MOL, Petrom and Rompetrol lost between 3% and 9% of their registered turnovers for the first six months of last year. Lukoil Romania, the fuel distribution unit of Russian-based Lukoil, supported the market and witnessed a 52% growth rate in H1. Overall, the market value of all the four major players reached a similar level compared with last year. In terms of profit, MOL, Rompetrol and Lukoil registered increases. It was only Petrom that witnessed a decline.

For Rompetrol and Lukoil, which recently experienced losses, the first half meant profit. The factor that drove the two companies into the black was the high quantity of refined crude oil. Additionally, both refineries process imported crude oil, which has a dollar-denominated price. Exported production is also dollar-denominated, which yields a fairly constant profit margin, irrespective of RON or price fluctuations for oil barrels.

In H1, Rompetrol Rafinare generated a net income worth 15.4m RON (4.68m euros), in line with Romanian accounting standards (RAS), compared with losses of 34.8m RON (9.8m euros) in H1, 2006. However, the turnover derived by the company that operates the Petromidia refinery fell by 8% against the first half of 2006, to 2.29bn RON (687m euros).

Petrotel Lukoil, the refinery controlled by Russian-based Lukoil, registered a profit worth 7.5m euros, (even higher than the one reported by the refinery owned by Dinu Patriciu) amid a turnover wort