September 28 (SeeNews) - Dutch-based Rompetrol Group has completed the modernisation of its Romanian refinery Petromidia following an investment of more than $380 million (294 million euro), the group said.
Following the upgrade Petromidia's processing capacity rose from 3.5 million to 5.0 million tonnes of raw materials, Rompetrol Group said in a statement on Thursday.
The refinery also started the exclusive production of Euro 5 fuels and its production was brought in line with the demand for oil products in Romania and the Black Sea region, it added.
The main asset of Rompetrol Group, owned by Kazakh state oil firm KazMunayGas, is Romania's Rompetrol Rafinare, which operates Petromidia and a smaller refinery, Vega.
Initiated in 2006, Petromidia's modernisation consisted of nine major projects, including the construction of five new plants: the mild hydro-cracking installation, the hydrogen production plant, the sulphur recovery unit, the nitrogen production plant and a new flare system.
The overhaul also included the extension of four existing plants, the group said.
The group said that some $170 million were directed towards the construction and integration of the mild hydro-cracking plant into the refinery’s technological flow. "This supports the company’s aims of increasing the annual Diesel fuel production from 1.5 million tonnes to 2.5 million tonnes."
"The completion of the program for the modernization and extension of Petromidia Refinery was the groundwork for the next step in developing the Rompetrol Group – the extension and consolidation of Rompetrol’s presence in the Black Sea and Mediterranean Sea regions, as well as the access to new markets such as Ukraine or Turkey," Rompetrol Group manager Zhanat Tussupbekov said in the statement.
Rompetrol group operates 1,100 fuel distribution points in Romania, Georgia, Bulgaria, Moldova, Ukraine, France and Spain, a liquefied petroleum gas distribution network in Romania consisting of 250 filling stations, 10,000 gas cylinders distribution points.
The group also operates a total storage capacity of 1.1 million cubic metres in the Black Sea and Mediterranean regions.
($=0.7732 euro)