Petroleum products
The obligation to maintain minimum security stocks of petroleum products (emergency stocks) in Spain currently means holding stocks equivalent to 92 days of eligible sales or consumption, which must be maintained at all times.
Of these total mandatory 92 days, CORES holds 42 days (strategic stocks) while the industry holds the remaining 50 days (industry reserves).
As a result of the latest IEA coordinated actions in 2022, the industry's obligation is temporarily reduced by 7.8 days. You can find more information here.
The entities obliged to maintain minimum stocks of petroleum products are wholesale operators, retail distribution companies (for the part not supplied by wholesale operators, or other retail distribution) and consumers (for the part not supplied by wholesale operators or retail companies).
The obligation to hold petroleum products comprises three product groups:
- Gasoline group: petrol for automobiles and aviation
- Middle distillates group: road diesel fuel, other diesel fuels, aviation kerosene and other kerosene
- Fuel oil group: fuel oils
Other fuels used for the same purposes (biofuels, for example) are understood to be included in the above groups.
The obligation for each product must be maintained in that product or another that belongs to the same group. Holding stocks in the form of raw materials is permitted: up to 40% of the obligation for the gasoline and middle distillate groups and up to 50% for the fuel oil group. To do this, the companies must have a raw material-to-product transformation coefficient approved by the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge.
Eligible sales are those sales that go to final consumption, distributors or service stations and take place during the previous calendar year, with a three-month delay, corresponding the first quarter. Thus, for the calculation of the obligation from April 1 of the year A+1 as of March 31 A+2, sales or consumption recorded during the calendar year shall be deemed A.
During an obligated entity’s first 15 months of activity, the eligible sales are substituted by an annual sales forecast approved by the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge.
Sales between operators, sales destined for export (including to EU countries) and those destined for international maritime shipping are not counted as eligible sales.
Under certain conditions (ES), the obligated entities can ask CORES to hold up to 100% of their obligation. The obliged entity must make a request in number of days of obligation, for the different groups of products, under the terms and conditions established in the approved procedures.
Stocks that can be counted toward minimum stocks are those that meet the requirements established in art.10 of RD 1716/2004 (ES), of 23 July.
The stocks maintained can be either owned or rented by the obligated entity, provided that the leases are previously submitted to the Corporation, and must be fully available in either case. They can be held in the entity’s own facilities or in others that are the property of third parties. Volumes can not be transferred or leased to third parties.
The stocks can be held within the national territory or in other countries with which Spain has signed a bilateral agreement (currently these are: France, Italy, Portugal and Ireland). Stockholding abroad is limited to 40% of each company’s individual obligation, as long as the overall total is not more than 15% of all of Spain’s stocks.
Only 90% of the stocks held can be counted for the purposes of maintenance of minimum stocks.
Additionally, stocks as crude oil, raw materials and semi-refined products shall be accounted for net contents in gasoline, representing a reduction of 4%.
Those obligated entities that belong to the same business group can meet the obligation to maintain minimum security stocks collectively, if authorised by the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge.
