Registration of Oil Product Transactions Fails to Attract Traders
In the first ten days of voluntary registration for over-the-counter transactions involving oil products, market participants submitted no contracts, as reported by “Ъ”. Starting from March 2027, this procedure will become mandatory. While the tracking will increase transaction transparency, it will not eliminate fuel shortages and will impose an additional burden on small traders, experts note.
Retail fuel prices are rising unevenly. According to Rosstat, from August 31 to September 7, the average price for gasoline in Russia increased by 49 kopecks to 78.25 rubles per liter, while diesel fuel rose by 4 kopecks to 88.44 rubles per liter. Fuel prices increased in 49 regions, while decreasing in nine. In Moscow and St. Petersburg, prices remained almost unchanged over the week.
The Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) positions the registration system as a tool to ensure traceability of supply chains and to form more transparent pricing mechanisms. Indicative prices by region, based on collected data, are intended to serve as benchmarks for markup control.
As reported to “Ъ” by the FAS, there were no applicants for voluntary contract registration by September 10.
However, they noted that in 2026, more than 50 companies voluntarily registered transactions monthly, totaling more than 500,000 tons of oil products under small wholesale contracts.
An industry source views the initiative as an attempt to demonstrate regulatory activity amidst their inability to address the primary issue—saturating the domestic market with gasoline due to the aftermath of attacks on oil refineries. In his assessment, the system will create significant operational costs for traders. Another trading participant points out that the largest trader holds a 5% share in the exchange market, or 1% of the Russian market. Thus, he continues, there are no dominant players among traders, indicating that the impact of registration on the market is not expected to be substantial.
Registration of over-the-counter transactions, on its own, will not serve as a long-term price restraint tool, says Sergey Tereshkin, CEO of Open Oil Market. He believes that manual regulation and constant monitoring demand substantial resources from regulators and traders, generating no incentives for reducing fuel prices. Over-the-counter sales statistics alone cannot leverage price reductions; data collection merely increases administrative burdens without ensuring market stabilization in the long run, he asserts.
Managing Partner of NEFT Research Sergey Frolov believes that the new system will enhance the transparency of the pricing chain, yet will not influence prices directly. The regulator, he explains, will be able to see transaction conditions and identify potential discrimination against independent participants; however, this will not address the root causes of price increases in the context of supply shortages. Furthermore, the additional reporting requirements may increase the burden on small traders and create additional barriers for them.
Source: Kommersant
