Fuelling Logistics from Refinery to Retail

The purpose of this paper was to examine how EU sanctions on Russia impacted Romania and how its refineries managed to continue operating with alternative suppliers. Production performance dynamics and their share in total output of refined petroleum products in the last 5 years (2019-2023) are analyzed using descriptive statistics. Own empirical research is used to study the supply chains of the Petrobrazi, Petrotel and Petromidia refineries and provide an overview of their role on the domestic fuel market by mapping out their fuel storage locations and network of filling stations. Findings underpin the importance of an interconnected infrastructure network (pipelines, railways and ports) and using it to its full extent to balance out onshore and offshore imports, as well as downstream deliveries. Study replicability is affected by the limited extent to which the collected data can be revealed, whilst future research can study sustainability of non-Russian oil sourcing alternatives.