Fuel prices have gradually increased over the past three weeks. An analyst says this growth is more dangerous than a sudden one

Gasoline has become more expensive by one lei per liter, and diesel by more than 1.3 lei in three weeks, since the war in Iran began. Almost every day there were price increases, but they were gradual – by 10-20 money per day. However, the President of the Intelligent Energy Association states that gradual price increases are more dangerous, because people get used to the prices and no longer react.

On Friday, fuels went up again by 15 pennies per liter for gasoline and 19 pennies per liter for diesel. The cheapest type of gasoline now costs 8.94 lei, compared to 7.95 lei at the end of February, before the war.

Standard diesel reached 9.59 lei, compared to 8.27 lei at the beginning of March.

Premium diesel, the most expensive type of fuel suitable for cars with powerful engines, even reached 10.29 lei per liter, compared to 8.9 lei per liter before the war.

“Diffuse discomfort does not generate action, but resignation”

Dumitru Chisăliță, president of the Intelligent Energy Association, believes that this gradual increase in price is more dangerous than a significant jump in prices. This is because people start to get used to the new prices and stop reacting.

The greatest danger in an oil crisis is not the initial spike in prices or the disruption of flows, but the slow, almost invisible decay of responsiveness.

Dumitru Chisăliță, president of the Intelligent Energy Association

He compares this situation to the metaphor of the “boiled frog”, when both society and the political class progressively adapt to the abnormal, until they no longer recognize the moment when they lost control.

“It is not a dramatic scenario, it does not have the spectacularity of a sudden collapse. It is much more insidious, it is an accumulation of compromises, of minor adjustments, of soothing explanations, which together produce a profound structural change,” says the analyst.

For the political class, this mechanism is almost ideal. Gradual adjustments reduce public pressure and costs are spread over time and become harder to attribute.

“There is no clear moment when anyone can be held accountable. Instead of an obvious crisis, there is a state of permanent but diffuse discomfort. And diffuse discomfort does not breed action, but resignation. But this strategy comes at a huge price. Because while the discourse remains calm, reality accumulates. Companies close. Agricultural work is not done. Structural dependencies are not reduced. Vulnerabilities are not corrected. The energy system, by its rigid nature, cannot be adjusted quickly when, in the end, the pressure becomes unbearable. And that moment always comes,” added the president of the Intelligent Energy Association.

Nicușor Dan says that the Government will take measures in the coming days

President Nicusor Dan declared, on Thursday, in a press conference held in Brussels, that the Romanian authorities will come up with a set of measures in this sector in the coming days.

On the other hand, the Minister of Finance, Alexandru Nazare, stated that we are not in a good moment to reduce excise taxes.

The Competition Council has so far found no evidence that the fuel price in Romania has increased unjustifiably. The prices are even lower than in other countries, as Romania is an oil-producing country, Bogdan Chirițoiu, the president of the Competition Council, told HotNews on Wednesday.

At the same time, ANAF announced national controls on the entire fuel distribution chain.