How we calculate price reports

Every article in this section is produced from data we collect and figures we compute ourselves. This page states exactly what goes into them, when we publish, and what we refuse to do.

Where the data comes from

For Romania, prices are reported by station operators to Monitorul Prețurilor Carburanților (Consiliul Concurenței), the public price monitor. We collect them every two hours and keep every reading. We use exactly two of the source's product categories: "Motorina standard" and "Benzina standard". Everything else the source publishes — Benzina premium, Motorina premium, GPL, Încărcare electrică — is outside these articles. The prices are the pump prices reported to the monitor: they contain no loyalty-card, fleet or contract discount, because the source does not publish those. A day runs from 00:00 to 23:59 in Europe/Bucharest. The sample currently covers 1,135 stations.

The source does not expire prices: a station that has not reported a change keeps its last reported value, and our collection re-stamps it every two hours. We therefore set no maximum age of our own — a stale price is the source's statement about that station, and dropping it would quietly shrink the sample. What we do instead is say how old the oldest one is: right now, the oldest price still carried forward in the diesel sample was last changed on 23 September 2026.

For France, prices are reported by station operators to prix-carburants.gouv.fr (Ministère de l’Économie, des Finances et de la Souveraineté industrielle et numérique), the public price monitor. We collect them once a day and keep every reading. We use exactly two of the source's product categories: "Gazole (B7)" and "SP95-E10 (E10)". Everything else the source publishes — SP95, SP98, E85, GPL — is outside these articles. The prices are the pump prices reported to the monitor: they contain no loyalty-card, fleet or contract discount, because the source does not publish those. A day runs from 00:00 to 23:59 in Europe/Paris. The sample currently covers 9,035 stations.

For Italy, prices are reported by station operators to Osservaprezzi Carburanti (Ministero delle Imprese e del Made in Italy), the public price monitor. We collect them once a day and keep every reading. We use exactly two of the source's product categories: "Gasolio" and "Benzina". Everything else the source publishes — Benzina 98, GPL, Metano, GNL — is outside these articles. The prices are the pump prices reported to the monitor: they contain no loyalty-card, fleet or contract discount, because the source does not publish those. A day runs from 00:00 to 23:59 in Europe/Rome. The sample currently covers 21,160 stations.

For Spain, prices are reported by station operators to Geoportal de Hidrocarburos (Ministerio para la Transición Ecológica y el Reto Demográfico (MITECO)), the public price monitor. We collect them once a day and keep every reading. We use exactly two of the source's product categories: "Gasóleo A (B7)" and "Gasolina 95 E5". Everything else the source publishes — Gasolina 98, GLP — is outside these articles. The prices are the pump prices reported to the monitor: they contain no loyalty-card, fleet or contract discount, because the source does not publish those. A day runs from 00:00 to 23:59 in Europe/Madrid. The sample currently covers 11,157 stations.

Weekly national average consumer prices in Germany come from Weekly Oil Bulletin (European Commission, Directorate-General for Energy (DG ENER)). We import them once a week and preserve each published observation. We use exactly two source product categories: “Automotive gas oil” and “Euro-super 95”. Everything else published by the source — Heating gas oil, Residual fuel oil, LPG motor fuel — is outside these articles.

Each weekly observation is stored exactly as published for that reference week. We do not carry forward station prices or create missing weekly values. If the source revises a national average, the stored source value and any affected article are corrected transparently. We import the series once a week.

Weekly national average consumer prices in Poland come from Weekly Oil Bulletin (European Commission, Directorate-General for Energy (DG ENER)). We import them once a week and preserve each published observation. We use exactly two source product categories: “Automotive gas oil” and “Euro-super 95”. Everything else published by the source — Heating gas oil, Residual fuel oil, LPG motor fuel — is outside these articles.

Weekly national average consumer prices in Hungary come from Weekly Oil Bulletin (European Commission, Directorate-General for Energy (DG ENER)). We import them once a week and preserve each published observation. We use exactly two source product categories: “Automotive gas oil” and “Euro-super 95”. Everything else published by the source — Heating gas oil, Residual fuel oil, LPG motor fuel — is outside these articles.

Weekly national average consumer prices in the Netherlands come from Weekly Oil Bulletin (European Commission, Directorate-General for Energy (DG ENER)). We import them once a week and preserve each published observation. We use exactly two source product categories: “Automotive gas oil” and “Euro-super 95”. Everything else published by the source — Heating gas oil, Residual fuel oil, LPG motor fuel — is outside these articles.

Weekly national average consumer prices in Czechia come from Weekly Oil Bulletin (European Commission, Directorate-General for Energy (DG ENER)). We import them once a week and preserve each published observation. We use exactly two source product categories: “Automotive gas oil” and “Euro-super 95”. Everything else published by the source — Heating gas oil, Residual fuel oil, LPG motor fuel — is outside these articles.

Weekly national average consumer prices in Slovakia come from Weekly Oil Bulletin (European Commission, Directorate-General for Energy (DG ENER)). We import them once a week and preserve each published observation. We use exactly two source product categories: “Automotive gas oil” and “Euro-super 95”. Everything else published by the source — Heating gas oil, Residual fuel oil, LPG motor fuel — is outside these articles.

Weekly national average consumer prices in Bulgaria come from Weekly Oil Bulletin (European Commission, Directorate-General for Energy (DG ENER)). We import them once a week and preserve each published observation. We use exactly two source product categories: “Automotive gas oil” and “Euro-super 95”. Everything else published by the source — Heating gas oil, Residual fuel oil, LPG motor fuel — is outside these articles.

Weekly national average consumer prices in Sweden come from Weekly Oil Bulletin (European Commission, Directorate-General for Energy (DG ENER)). We import them once a week and preserve each published observation. We use exactly two source product categories: “Automotive gas oil” and “Euro-super 95”. Everything else published by the source — Heating gas oil, Residual fuel oil, LPG motor fuel — is outside these articles.

Weekly national average consumer prices in Greece come from Weekly Oil Bulletin (European Commission, Directorate-General for Energy (DG ENER)). We import them once a week and preserve each published observation. We use exactly two source product categories: “Automotive gas oil” and “Euro-super 95”. Everything else published by the source — Heating gas oil, Residual fuel oil, LPG motor fuel — is outside these articles.

Weekly national average consumer prices in Denmark come from Weekly Oil Bulletin (European Commission, Directorate-General for Energy (DG ENER)). We import them once a week and preserve each published observation. We use exactly two source product categories: “Automotive gas oil” and “Euro-super 95”. Everything else published by the source — Heating gas oil, Residual fuel oil, LPG motor fuel — is outside these articles.

Weekly national average consumer prices in Estonia come from Weekly Oil Bulletin (European Commission, Directorate-General for Energy (DG ENER)). We import them once a week and preserve each published observation. We use exactly two source product categories: “Automotive gas oil” and “Euro-super 95”. Everything else published by the source — Heating gas oil, Residual fuel oil, LPG motor fuel — is outside these articles.

Weekly national average consumer prices in Latvia come from Weekly Oil Bulletin (European Commission, Directorate-General for Energy (DG ENER)). We import them once a week and preserve each published observation. We use exactly two source product categories: “Automotive gas oil” and “Euro-super 95”. Everything else published by the source — Heating gas oil, Residual fuel oil, LPG motor fuel — is outside these articles.

Weekly national average consumer prices in Finland come from Weekly Oil Bulletin (European Commission, Directorate-General for Energy (DG ENER)). We import them once a week and preserve each published observation. We use exactly two source product categories: “Automotive gas oil” and “Euro-super 95”. Everything else published by the source — Heating gas oil, Residual fuel oil, LPG motor fuel — is outside these articles.

Weekly national average consumer prices in Croatia come from Weekly Oil Bulletin (European Commission, Directorate-General for Energy (DG ENER)). We import them once a week and preserve each published observation. We use exactly two source product categories: “Automotive gas oil” and “Euro-super 95”. Everything else published by the source — Heating gas oil, Residual fuel oil, LPG motor fuel — is outside these articles.

Weekly national average consumer prices in Belgium come from Weekly Oil Bulletin (European Commission, Directorate-General for Energy (DG ENER)). We import them once a week and preserve each published observation. We use exactly two source product categories: “Automotive gas oil” and “Euro-super 95”. Everything else published by the source — Heating gas oil, Residual fuel oil, LPG motor fuel — is outside these articles.

Weekly national average consumer prices in Luxembourg come from Weekly Oil Bulletin (European Commission, Directorate-General for Energy (DG ENER)). We import them once a week and preserve each published observation. We use exactly two source product categories: “Automotive gas oil” and “Euro-super 95”. Everything else published by the source — Heating gas oil, Residual fuel oil, LPG motor fuel — is outside these articles.

Weekly national average consumer prices in Ireland come from Weekly Oil Bulletin (European Commission, Directorate-General for Energy (DG ENER)). We import them once a week and preserve each published observation. We use exactly two source product categories: “Automotive gas oil” and “Euro-super 95”. Everything else published by the source — Heating gas oil, Residual fuel oil, LPG motor fuel — is outside these articles.

Weekly national average consumer prices in Malta come from Weekly Oil Bulletin (European Commission, Directorate-General for Energy (DG ENER)). We import them once a week and preserve each published observation. We use exactly two source product categories: “Automotive gas oil” and “Euro-super 95”. Everything else published by the source — Heating gas oil, Residual fuel oil, LPG motor fuel — is outside these articles.

Weekly national average consumer prices in Lithuania come from Weekly Oil Bulletin (European Commission, Directorate-General for Energy (DG ENER)). We import them once a week and preserve each published observation. We use exactly two source product categories: “Automotive gas oil” and “Euro-super 95”. Everything else published by the source — Heating gas oil, Residual fuel oil, LPG motor fuel — is outside these articles.

Weekly national average consumer prices in Slovenia come from Weekly Oil Bulletin (European Commission, Directorate-General for Energy (DG ENER)). We import them once a week and preserve each published observation. We use exactly two source product categories: “Automotive gas oil” and “Euro-super 95”. Everything else published by the source — Heating gas oil, Residual fuel oil, LPG motor fuel — is outside these articles.

How the national average is computed

For each day we take every station's last reading of that day, then the plain mean across stations — no weighting by size or sales. Stations that are inactive or marked as unverified are excluded, and so is any reading outside our plausibility range of RON 2.00/l to RON 30.00/l: a single mistyped 999 would otherwise move a national average by almost a whole unit. A day whose sample falls below 80% of the typical daily sample is dropped from the series entirely, because a partial day can manufacture a record that does not exist. At the end of a day this is the same figure our live market page shows, so the two cannot disagree.

Percentages, price differences and fill-up estimates are calculated from unrounded national averages. Prices shown in prose and tables are rounded to two decimal places.

Comparing like with like

For daily and weekly comparisons, we also calculate a matched-station panel: the same set of stations that reported a valid price on both days of the comparison. A change is published only if the all-station figure and the matched-panel figure point in the same direction, the panel covers at least 95% of the smaller of the two daily samples, and the two figures differ by no more than 0.30 percentage points. If any of the three conditions fails, we do not publish the comparison — a change in which stations reported can otherwise look like a change in price.

When we publish

An article exists only because a measurement crossed a rule: a daily change of at least 1.5% in the national average of a main fuel; a new high or low over a stated calendar range; a round-number threshold crossed; or, on Sunday, a weekly recap, if that week already had one of the other three or if the national average of a main fuel moved by at least 0.3% from Monday to Sunday. At most 1 article per country per day and 4 per country per week.

Which event we write about

More than one rule can fire on the same day. The order is fixed and does not depend on which figure looks more dramatic: a high or low over the whole series first, then a high or low over a shorter calendar range, then a round-number threshold, then a daily change, and last the weekly recap. If two events of the same kind tie, the one with the larger absolute percentage change wins; if they still tie, the fuels are taken in the order in which we publish them, diesel before petrol. Round-number thresholds carry a hysteresis of RON 0.05 a litre: once we have written that an average crossed a threshold, we do not write about that threshold again until the average has moved at least that far away from it and then crossed back. Without it, an average sitting on a round number would produce an article every other day.

How the text is written

The sentences come from a fixed set of templates with numbered slots. Every figure in an article is computed from the stored data and inserted into a slot; no language model writes at publication time, and no sentence outside the approved set can appear. Each language has its own template set, reviewed by a native speaker before that language is allowed to publish, and re-reviewed on a sample after any change to the templates. Before an article goes out, it is checked automatically: the arithmetic is recomputed from the frozen snapshot, every slot must be filled, no text from another language may appear, and the number and date formats must match the language. A failure blocks publication rather than producing a broken article, and any single language can be switched off on its own. This article set uses template version 2.0.0 and method version 2026-08-06.1.

What we do not do

We do not explain why a price moved. We do not forecast. We do not round a figure to make it look more dramatic, and we do not write a headline our own numbers do not support. Every comparison in an article states the calendar dates it covers, so no reader has to guess which window a percentage refers to.

Our daily national series for this market covers 21 May – 6 November 2026 — 170 days — so no comparison here reaches further back than that.

Corrections

Each article is built from a snapshot of the data as it stood when the article was written, and that snapshot is frozen: re-rendering the page cannot silently change a figure. If the source later revises a price, we update the article, add a dated correction note carrying both the old and the new value, and update the modification date — the original publication date never moves. If you think an article is wrong, tell us and we will check the readings it is based on.