Fuel prices in Bulgaria today

Fuel prices in Bulgaria — what a driver actually pays

The prices on this page are the live average across every major chain operating in the country — Lukoil, Shell, OMV, Petrol, Eko, Rompetrol and the larger independents — refreshed hourly.

Against the EU Oil Bulletin weekly averages, unleaded 95 is currently about 7% below the EU average, and diesel about 9% above it. That split is normal: Bulgaria’s low excise duty keeps petrol consistently cheap, while diesel tracks regional wholesale supply more closely and can trade above the EU average for weeks at a time.

Prices are national, not local

This is the single most useful thing to know if you are searching for fuel near a specific district. The large Bulgarian chains run a single national price list. A Shell in central Sofia and a Shell in Varna post the same figure on the same day. Differences between neighbourhoods — Lozenets, Studentski grad, Mladost, Lyulin — are under €0.02 per litre, which is inside the rounding you see on the pole sign.

The variation that is worth chasing is between brands, not between locations. Independents such as Eko Petrol and Dieselor routinely undercut the international chains, and that gap is normally €0.05–0.15 per litre — real money on a full tank. The comparison table above ranks every chain live.

What a full tank costs today

On a typical 55-litre tank at today’s national averages: unleaded 95 comes to about €84,70, and diesel about €96,80. The cheapest unleaded on the board right now is Еко Петрол at €1,47 per litre.

Petrol, diesel, LPG or CNG

LPG (autogas) is unusually widespread in Bulgaria and is priced at roughly half of petrol — €0,65 against €1,54 per litre today. That headline gap overstates the saving, because an LPG conversion burns 20–30% more volume per 100 km, but the running cost still lands clearly below petrol. Compressed natural gas (CNG, sold as “метан”) is priced per kilogram rather than per litre, which is why it cannot be compared like-for-like on the pole sign; per 100 km it is usually the cheapest option of all, where a vehicle supports it.

Currency: euro and lev on the same receipt

Bulgaria uses the euro. Prices are quoted in euro, and many stations still print the legacy lev equivalent alongside at the fixed rate of €1 = 1.95583 BGN. Both figures on a pole sign refer to the same price — they are not two different tariffs.

Why the price moves

Pump prices track Brent crude and the EUR/USD rate with a lag of roughly two to four weeks, on top of a fixed excise duty and VAT. Bulgarian excise is among the lowest in the EU — €363 per 1,000 litres on petrol and €330 per 1,000 litres on diesel — which is the main structural reason fuel here is cheaper than in Germany, Greece or Hungary. The chains typically reprice one to three times a week, more often when crude is volatile.

Paying at the pump

Most stations in Bulgaria are attended: you stop, tell the attendant the fuel and amount, and pay inside afterwards. Cards are accepted essentially everywhere on the motorway network and in cities. Unattended pay-at-pump terminals exist but are the exception rather than the rule.

Motorway travel: you also need a vignette

Fuel is not the only cost of driving here. Any vehicle up to 3.5 t needs an electronic vignette to use motorways and first- and second-class national roads. It is linked to the number plate, so there is no sticker; motorcycles are exempt, and vehicles over 3.5 t pay distance-based tolls instead.

How these numbers are produced

Each chain’s figure is its national average across its Bulgarian sites, refreshed hourly. The country average is the mean across chains. Station-level prices shown on the map are derived from the chain average with a hand-tuned location adjustment, so treat them as a guide and confirm at the pump — the number on the pole sign is always the one you pay. The last-updated timestamp at the top of this page shows exactly how fresh the data is.

Prefer Bulgarian? Виж цените на горивата на български →