Rompetrol group officials believe that the decline in the value of oil prices on international markets, due to the current financial crisis, is a trend that could continue over a longer period of time and could translate into lower pump prices.
Even under such circumstances, demand for petroleum products could go down if the state of the economy worsens, although there are no real signs at the moment of the potential worsening of market conditions.
"A great deal is up to the manner in which the local banking sector will react to this crisis. If you cannot get funding, you cannot develop, and therefore you cannot do business, which unavoidably shows in the number of employees and in their purchasing power," explains Andre Naniche, vice-president of Rompetrol group.
Naniche says that in Rompetrol's case, there are no problems with funding requirements yet, but adds that although there are plenty of opportunities for acquisitions on foreign markets, the group's policy will favour investments aimed at organic growth.
Rompetrol says that this crisis could spell trouble for companies that are involved in exploration and drilling, as refiners are actually doing better because of the lower price of the oil barrel on the international markets.
"If you borrowed money when what you were drilling was worth 150 dollars, a value the barrel should never have reached, then you will be in trouble when the barrel reaches 80 dollars. Nobody saw this coming and nobody has a solution tailored to this crisis, which has yet to reach its peak. We will surely see a huge impact on legislation," Naniche adds.
According to the Rompetrol representative, a fair barrel price would be somewhere between 60 to 90 dollars.
As for operations abroad, Rompetrol made the decision to close its business in Albania where it owned nine filling stations because it
