Romania's Rompetrol completes Petromidia refinery turnaround

The production units will enter the technological flows in stages and will reach optimal capacities in the shortest possible time, Rompetrol Rafinare said in a press release filed with the Bucharest Stock Exchange, BVB, on Monday.

The turnaround works were carried out by Rominserv, the local maintenance and engineering arm of KazMunayGas International Group, Rompetrol’s parent company, with the support of more than 30 subcontracted companies from Romania and other European countries.

The total investment for the development projects implemented as part of the turnaround is valued at $85 million (78.5 million euro). Key projects included reactor replacement in the Diesel Hydrorefining plant, modernisation of components in the Hydrogen and Delayed Coking units, and reconstruction of the Mild Hydrocracking (MHC) unit.

Rompetrol Rafinare started the general turnaround at its Petromidia Navodari refinery on March 8. On March 29, a fire occurred at the refinery, which was extinguished with no victims.

"The turnaround of the Petromidia refinery is a mandatory and necessary measure implemented by Rompetrol Rafinare, with a cycle of 4 years, aimed at ensuring a high degree of safety, both for the technological installations and for the employees on the platform," the company stated.

Rompetrol Rafinare intends to process around 5 million tonnes of raw materials 2024, aiming to obtain 2.19 million tonnes of diesel and 1.34 million tonnes of gasoline.

In 2023, Rompetrol booked a preliminary consolidated net loss of $270.5 million on a consolidated gross turnover of $5.33 billion.

The main shareholders of Rompetrol Rafinare are KMG International with a stake of 54.63% and the Romanian state through the energy ministry with 44.7%. Rompetrol Rafinare operates the Petromidia Navodari refinery and the Vega refinery.

Rompetrol's shares traded 0.65% higher at 0.0775 lei as at 1241 CET on Wednesday on the BVB.

($=0.9235 euro)