OREANDA-NEWS. April 13, 2012. The oil products' market was on the rise in 2011, despite a sharp increase in the price of these goods. The import grew by 9.2 per cent, reaching 625,000 tons, according to a report by the National Agency for Regulation of Energy (ANRE) on the evolutions of the market of oil products in 2011.

The petrol pump price increased by an average of 17.2 per cent against the year before, while the sales dropped by 5.5 per cent to 173,600 tons. In 2011, the petrol retail prices changed four times from 15.4 lei to 16.6 lei per one litre.

The rise in the petrol price was triggered by a considerable increase of the import price, experts have said. In 2011, the imports were by 32.2 per cent more expensive against the previous year. The price went up to 1,016.3 dollars per one ton against 768.8 dollars in 2010.

On the other hand, the retail sales of diesel oil grew by 8.7 per cent, reaching 234,300 tons. The diesel oil price increased by 24.9 per cent on average in 2011, against the year before. The diesel oil's retail selling price changed five times in 2011, from 13.9 lei to 15.8 lei per one litre.

The ANRE explained the rise in the diesel oil price by an increase of the import prices. In 2011, the diesel oil import price went up by 36.9 per cent, standing at 1,002.2 dollars per one ton against 732.1 dollars per one ton in 2010.

"Traditionally, among other countries, Romania was the main petrol provider, with a 67.3-per cent quota of all the imports," ANRE's report says. Moldova imported 8.3 per cent of all the diesel oil from Belarus, 7.4 per cent from Bulgaria, 7 per cent from Lithuania. The biggest diesel oil imports, 44.5 per cent, were made from Romania, which is followed by Ukraine - 32.5 per cent and Belarus - 16.5 per cent.

Moldova daily imported an average of 496 tons of petrol, 968 tons of diesel oil and 191 tons of liquefied gas in 2011.

Last year, 112 economic agents held 174 licences for regulated kinds of activity on the domestic oil products market.