Registration of Oil Product Transactions Fails to Attract Traders
In the first ten days of voluntary registration of over-the-counter oil product transactions, market participants did not submit a single contract, reports “Kommersant”. Starting March 2027, this procedure will become mandatory. While the registration aims to enhance transaction transparency, it will not eliminate fuel shortages and will create additional burdens for smaller traders, experts note.
Retail fuel prices are increasing unevenly. According to Rosstat, for the week from August 31 to September 7, the average price of gasoline in Russia rose by 49 kopecks to 78.25 rubles per litre, while diesel fuel increased by 4 kopecks to 88.44 rubles per litre. Fuel prices rose in 49 regions, while they fell in nine. In Moscow and St. Petersburg, prices remained virtually unchanged over the week.
The Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) positions the registration system as a tool for ensuring traceability in supply chains and fostering more transparent pricing. Based on the data collected, indicative prices will be determined by region, serving as a benchmark for price control.
As reported by “Kommersant”, there were no voluntary registrations of contracts by the September 10 deadline.
However, it was noted that in 2026, over 50 companies voluntarily registered transactions monthly, with a total volume exceeding 500,000 tons of oil products under small wholesale contracts.
An industry source views this initiative as an attempt to demonstrate regulatory activity in a situation where they cannot address the main issue—saturating the domestic gasoline market due to the aftermath of attacks on oil refineries. According to their assessment, the system will impose significant operational costs on traders. Another trading participant pointed out that the market share of the largest trader is 5% of the exchange market or 1% of the Russian market. Therefore, he continues, there are no dominant players among traders, meaning that significant influence from the registration on the market is not anticipated.
The registration of over-the-counter transactions alone will not serve as a tool for long-term price suppression, says Sergei Tereshkin, General Director of Open Oil Market. In his opinion, manual regulation and constant monitoring require substantial resources from regulators and traders and do not create incentives for lowering fuel costs. The statistics on over-the-counter sales cannot be a lever for price reduction; data collection will only increase administrative burdens without stabilizing the market in the long term, he is convinced.
Managing Partner at NEFT Research, Sergei Frolov, believes that the new system will make the pricing chain more transparent, but will not inherently influence prices. The regulator, he explains, will be able to see the terms of transactions and identify potential discrimination against independent participants; however, in a supply deficit, it will not eliminate the reasons for rising prices. Moreover, the additional reporting requirements may increase the burden on smaller traders and create further barriers for them.
Source: Kommersant
