Bro, what I heard today! One of my boys from the gas station called me and says: 'Boss, did you see what happened with gas?' I say: 'Come on, man, I looked at my bill and it made my blood boil.' Well, bro, let me tell you how it is, with numbers and all, because I've got my eyes on everything.
On July 1, 2026, gas on the Romanian Commodity Exchange was trading at 224.58 lei/MWh. That's not little, but wait till you see: the increase since February 27 is 44.72%! That's almost half, bro! And we're not alone - all of Europe is burning. Bulgaria got hit the hardest: +58%, then Greece with 56%, Spain with 50%, Italy with 47%. We're fifth in price hikes, but at least we have the lowest quote? Well, no: France beats us (220.71), Bulgaria (222.70), and the Netherlands (224.11). The most expensive are in Austria (244.13), Greece (239.63), and Poland (238.60). So, if you ask me, bro, these differences of 26 lei between markets show that everyone's doing what they can, but the trend is clear: they're suffocating us.
Now, about fuel, I've got good news and bad news. Good: the president of the Intelligent Energy Association, a Mr. Chisăliță, says that in July, gasoline and diesel might get cheaper. Gasoline could drop to 7.90-8.20 lei/liter, and diesel between 8.40 and 8.80 lei/liter by the end of the month. That's if no geopolitical crisis or new tax pops up. The reason? The Americans made peace with the Iranians, released oil from strategic reserves, and supply is higher than demand. Brent crude dropped to $70 a barrel and could go to $60-70. Personally, I'd be happy to see diesel under 8 lei, but I'm not kidding myself.
And now the bad part, which I mentioned. This drop is temporary, bro. In about a month, countries will finish releasing reserves and start buying again to fill their storage. If OPEC+ doesn't produce enough and global consumption is high, Brent will jump back to $75-80, and fuel will get more expensive from August and into autumn. And there's more: Chisăliță says that although oil is at the same price as in February, fuel is more expensive at the pump because of increased taxes, old stocks bought at high prices, and distributor margins. As stocks are renewed, competition should show at the pump. But when was the last time I saw real competition? When I got my mother-in-law's plum brandy, that was competition.
I look at Mioara looking at the gas station receipt and sighing. 'Hey, Costel, they took our money again.' And what am I supposed to tell her? That in December winter comes and it'll be even worse? Let's enjoy this one-month offer, because after that, as I said, they come for us again. That's Romania: enjoy while it's warm, because winter comes and there's nothing you can do.
