Gas stations complain about algorithmic trading of gasoline on the stock exchange

According to Kommersant, one of the largest independent gas station operators, Neftmagistral, complained about the lack of access to goods on the St. Petersburg International Exchange. The company attributes this to high demand and the use by some traders of trading algorithms that buy goods faster than a person. SPbMTSB says that they are monitoring. The FAS wants to toughen penalties for the use of robots. At the same time, fuel prices on the stock exchange have been rising for the third week.

The Neftmagistral company complained about problems with access to purchasing goods at St. Petersburg International Trading Exchange. The company’s general director and co-owner Alexander Erastov sent a corresponding letter (Kommersant has a copy) with a request to ensure equal conditions for all bidders to the Federal Antimonopoly Service, the Ministry of Energy and St. Petersburg International Trading Exchange. Neftmagistral owns more than 100 gas stations in the Moscow region and is one of the largest independent operators in the country. TD NM LLC is owned on a parity basis by Alexander and Natalia Erastov.

In the letter, Mr. Erastov indicates that since January 12, the company has not been able to purchase a single lot of AI-95 and AI-92 at the Moscow, Ryazan and Yaroslavl refineries. He attributes this to the fact that “exchange trading is characterized by extremely high demand, significantly exceeding supply, as well as the use of algorithmic purchasing systems by a number of trading participants.” They allow bids to be submitted from the new weighted average price, subject to its growth cap of 0.5%, much faster than any manual bidder, the letter says. Alexander Erastov also points out that after trading, Neftmagistral “receives offers” to purchase goods from the specified bases at a price with a premium to the exchange price.

Since the beginning of the year, the price of AI-95 on the stock exchange has increased by 22%, to 51.9 thousand rubles. per ton. The sharp rise in stock prices resumed in mid-January, after it became known about a serious accident at the Nizhny Novgorod refinery of LUKOIL (see “Kommersant” dated January 15).

In the last two weeks alone, the exchange has “taken enforcement action” against 15 participants for unfair trading practices.

SPbIMEX told Kommersant that the exchange has a monitoring system to counter unfair trading practices. If a violation is detected, punitive measures are applied to trading participants, taking into account the recommendations of the exchange section council, including suspension of participation in trading.

The Federal Antimonopoly Service reported to Kommersant that the exchange committee considered proposals to tighten the use of algorithmic systems when purchasing petroleum products at exchange trading; they were supported by market participants and on January 30 they will be considered at the St. Petersburg International Trading Exchange site. The FAS proposes to tighten measures for unscrupulous participants – for example, to disconnect from trading from the next day after the fact of detection.

The continuous increase in gasoline prices on the stock exchange during January is associated with several main factors: an increase in excise taxes, an increase in export parity due to the zeroing of the export duty, and the indexation of indicative prices when calculating the damper, says RTS head Evgeny Arkusha.

Also, due to the accident at the Nizhny Novgorod refinery, there is a rush demand for fuel; LUKOIL itself is increasing purchases.

In addition, the volumes of fuel that were previously purchased during the additional trading session (abolished in 2023) are now purchased by oil companies during the main session, and this creates additional demand and affects price indicators, Mr. Arkusha continues. He agrees, however, that independent gas stations have become more likely to encounter problems when purchasing on the exchange due to the use of robots by some trading participants.

Neftmagistral commercial director Sergei Solovyov confirmed to Kommersant the direction of the letters. According to him, Neftmagistral and other market participants have never experienced such significant difficulties with the availability of goods on the exchange, which is primarily due to high demand after the accident at the Nizhny Novgorod refinery, the lack of an additional session, and the use of robots. While “conscientious market participants” do not have time to form an order for the purchase of goods, some traders place it instantly and buy up the lion’s share of the volumes of AI-95 and AI-92 sold by oil companies, continues Mr. Solovyov, then the goods are sold by such traders at a “margin” outside the exchange. This gives reason to believe that they use algorithmic purchasing systems, the top manager notes. At the same time, dissatisfaction with demand provokes an increase in the number of applications, putting even greater pressure on prices, he believes. The shortage of exchange volumes of Neftmagistral has to be compensated by purchasing volumes in small wholesale.

Dmitry Kozlov