September 8 (SeeNews) - Bulgarian oil products retailer Insa Oil, part of local petrochemical group Insa, expects its new 25 million euro ($35.9 million) installation for hydrogen-based desulphurization of gas oil to reach full capacity in two to three years' time, the group’s owner Georgi Samuilov said.
The group plans to launch the new installation with installed capacity is 115,000 tonnes a year by the end of October.
“If our steady, ascending development continues at the pace of the past two years, we could reach the maximum production capacity in two to three years,” Samuilov told SeeNews in a recent interview.
The fuel produced by the new facility will be of improved quality and will meet tougher ecological standards because the technology of hydrogen-based desulphurization of gas oil currently is a top-notch one and the installation is the first-ever using such technology in Bulgaria, Samuilov said.
“Bringing the new production facility online is based on our forecast for a possible increase of our market share. This is our goal and it is absolutely realistic,” Samuilov said without elaborating.
Insa Oil has more than 200 trading partners in Bulgaria and sells more than 150,000 tonnes of oil products yearly. It exports to Romania, Serbia and Kosovo.
“The bulk of the fuels produced in the new installation will be most probably sold on those markets. Of course, we are always looking for new opportunities as our fuels meet all international standards,” Samuilov said.
Besides Insa Oil, the Insa group comprises propane-butane distributor Insa Gas, petrochemical warehouse and port operator Insa Port and motor, transmission and industrial lubricants producer Insa. The group has a network of over 600 partners at home and abroad.
The Insa Group has invested over 200 million levs ($146.7 million/102.3 million euro) in Insa Oil since 2000. It employs 450.
“We are ambitious and want to grow further in different sectors. […] We can additionally develop in terms of production, warehousing and logistics,” Samuilov said. He added the group plans to add new storage tanks in Insa Gas and develop the logistics potential of Insa Oil.
Group sales rose to 177 million levs in 2008 from 115 million levs in 2007. It expects sales to rise 40% this year, Samuilov told SeeNews earlier this year.
“Our preliminary half-year results show that our forecast has been realistic and based on the actual trends for the group,” Samuilov said. He added that Insa Oil’s half-year revenue alone rose by more than 50%.
“The other companies in the group are also showing rises, albeit not that high,” he said but gave no figures.
(1 euro = 1.95583 Bulgarian levs)