Hungarian oil and gas company MOL, which operates a chain of petrol stations in Romania, has announced an increase in local fuel sales of 5 percent in the first half of 2012, against the same period last year. Revenues from the Romanian fuel stations increased by 12 percent and the company's share of the local market went up to 12.5 percent over the first half of 2011.

MOL attributes the increases to the expansion policy followed in Romania. “The volume of retail sales of fuels increased in Romania in step with the development of our network,” reads the MOL statement. During the first half of the year, MOL's petrol sales rose by 1 percent, while diesel sales rose by 7 percent, year on year.

At a group level, MOL's revenues fell by 9 percent to USD 11.7 billion and net profits halved to under USD 500 million in the first quarter of 2012.

MOL operates a network of 130 petrol stations in Romania. The company is one quarter owned by the Hungarian state, with the other 75 percent divvied up between oil companies and financial firms and institutions.

Liam Lever, liam@romania-insider.com

(photo source: MOL)