Rompetrol group has completed modernization work at the Petromidia refinery after six years of work and an investment of over USD 380 million. The far reaching program allows the refinery to supply demand for oil based products in Romania and the Black Sea, as well as producing fuels that meet the Euro 5 EU pollution standard. Rompetrol's owner the Kazakh firm KazMunayGas describes the Petromidia refinery as an important asset and it can now fully process crude oil from Kazakhstan independently.

The refinery’s raw material capacity has risen from 3.5 million tons to 5 million tons a year as a result of the modernization work. The facility can now produce 2.5 million tons of diesel per year, up from 1.5 million, gasoline production capacity has risen slightly, from 1.3 to 1.4 million tons a year, while jet fuel capacity has doubled to reach 300,000 tons per year.

The modernization work included nine individual projects – the building of five new plants at the refinery and the upgrade of four existing units. Among the new facilities are desulphurization and nitrogen production units and the refinery will now have the regions highest yields of 'white goods,' or chemical by-products from refining oil. The plant can also produce 99.98 percent pure hydrogen. As well as meeting the Euro 5 standard, preparations for the introduction of the Euro 6 standard have been made. The new standard will reduce the amount of sulfur permissible in diesel fuel from 10 parts per million (ppm) to zero. Rominserv, Rompetrol's general contractor, coordinated work at the refinery. The work involved more than 280 companies and 3,500 people.

Along with the completion of the work, Rompetrol group has announced that further investments in Black Sea exploration, terminals and transport infrastructure and storage capacity will be made. The company will invest in exploration and prospecting in the five perimeters controlled in Romania, where it already invested USD 9.4 million between 2005 and 2011.

Rompetrol Rafinare, part of the Rompetrol group, reported a turnover of USD 1.1 billion in the first quarter of this year, a 2 percent increase compared to the first quarter of 2011. The company ended the first quarter on a loss, with a net loss of USD 62.7 million, 5.5 times higher than in the first quarter of 2011. In the first three months of 2011, Rompetrol Rafinare posted a loss of USD 11.3 million.

Liam Lever, liam@romania-insider.com

photo source: sxc.hu