RECORD PROFIT IN THE FIRST QUARTER Sales of fuel will be spurred by the industry and the wage hikes

• Mariana Gheorghe: "Just like it did so far, Petrom will pursue the moderate pricing policy which takes into account the international quotations of the oil products, taxation and local competition"

Fuel sales of Petrom dropped during the first three months of the year due to the unfavorable weather conditions of January and February. However, the management of the company estimates an increase in sales for the second quarter.

Mariana Gheorghe, the managing director of "Petrom" said: "When it comes to the second quarter, we might have reasons to be optimistic, if we think of the reinvigoration of the industrial sector, the economic forecast of 1.5% for 2012 estimated by the IMF and the recently announced measures to increase the wages and pensions. These measures could lead to a reinvigoration of the purchasing power of the population, which could lead to an increase in the consumption of fuel. Also, the increase of about 30% in the registrations of new cars in the first quarter of the year is an encouraging factor towards a potential increase of the fuel consumption on the retail segment".

She said that she expects the margins and volumes in the marketing activity of Petrom to remain under pressure, due to the high prices of oil and to the unstable economic climate in the region.

As for the evolution of the fuel prices, the CEO of Petrom said that just like it did so far, the company will pursue the moderate pricing policy which takes into account the international quotations for oil products, taxation and local competition. Mrs. Gheorghe said: "What I can tell you now about the future evolution of he price of fuel is that the tariffs of Romania are among the lowest in the European Union. As for the evolution of the international prices of oil and gas, they are influenced by a series of factors, including the price of oil, for which it is very hard to predict how they are going to evolve".

The price of oil is very volatile and sensitive to geopolitical tensions. In its internal assessments, Petrom has estimated an average price of crude higher than 100 USD/bbl in 2012.