Petrom and Rompetrol, the main players on the Romanian petroleum market whose cumulated market shares account for more than half of the local fuel sales, bet on different strategies in terms of distribution of refined products in the first nine months of the year.
As a result, Petrom posted growth on the retail segment, that is sales through filling stations, while Rompetrol achieved growth through its wholesale business in the third quarter of the year compared with the same time last year.
"Retail sales went up by 14% compared with the third quarter of last year, despite stagnating demand on the domestic market. Steady investments in the distribution network made from 2006 through 2008 resulted in an optimisation of the filling station network, which led to us getting some very good results despite the unfavourable economic context," Petrom officials explain.
The company owns the biggest filling station network in the country and can operate the lowest pump prices because it also has domestic petroleum production operations, while the other players have to import the petroleum they need for fuels.
On the other hand, Rompetrol's retail segment did not go as well, with the company posting a 10% decline of the amounts sold by its retail business, according to the data it released.
Things were completely different for the wholesale segment of Rompetrol's business, which saw 44% growth in the third quarter of 2009 compared with the corresponding period of 2008, while Petrom posted a 14% decline of wholesale sales and exports for the same period.
"Rompetrol Downstream posted 9% in overall sales increase in the third quarter compared with the same time last year, given the over 51% decline in sales of cars in the first eight months compared with the same time last year. This upward trend was driven by the wholesale segment, which went up
