November 16 (SeeNews) - Romania's Rompetrol Rafinare [BSE:RRC] posted a $57.8 million (132 million euro) net loss in the first nine months of 2021, compared to a $156 million net loss in the same period of 2020, it said.
Rompetrol Rafinare's consolidated results were impacted by a technical incident that occurred in July at the diesel hydrotreating plant, the company said in a statement filed with the Bucharest Stock Exchange on Monday.
The operation of the installations within the Petromidia refinery were interrupted as a result of the explosion which killed three workers.
However, the Petromidia refinery has now reached the optimal operational parameters, with an average of 13.5 thousand tons of crude oil processed daily, a pace that will be responsibly maintained, Rompetrol Rafinare general manager Felix Crudu-Tesloveanu said in the statement.
Rompetrol Rafinare posted a positive consolidated operating result (EBITDA) of $87 million in the January-September period, compared to a negative EBITDA of $21.66 million in the like period on 2020.
Gross turnover rose to $3.27 billion during the review period, from $2.51 billion a year earlier.
In the first nine months of the year, Rompetrol's Petromidia Navodari refinery processed over 3.3 million tonnes of raw materials, compared to 3.50 million tonnes in the like period of 2020. The volumes of processed raw materials and obtained products decreased, as a result of the cessation of the operational processes in the refinery, in the third quarter of the year. Between July and September, extensive works were carried out to restore the affected facilities.
Rompetrol's other refinery, Vega, which produces bitumen and hexane, processed 227 kt of raw materials in the January-September period, compared to 265 kt in the comparable period of 2020.
During the first nine months of 2021, the petrochemical segment of the company processed a total of 74 kt of polypropylene, compared to 80 kt in the first nine months of 2020. The volume of processed ethylene almost halved to 27 kt from 49 kt in in January-September 2020.
In the distribution segment, Rompetrol's net profit rose to $29.57 million in the nine months through September, compared to $22.77 million the like period of 2020.
At the end of September, Rompetrol Downstream's distribution segment comprised 1,179 points of sale, including its own network of stations, partner stations and mobile stations.
Rompetrol Rafinare is the core asset of Dutch-based KMG International, formerly The Rompetrol Group, which is fully owned by Kazakhstan's state-owned energy company KazMunaiGaz Group. Through its two oil refineries, Rompetrol Rafinare provides over 40% of Romania's refining capacity and is the only producer of polymers in the country.
Rompetrol Rafinare's shares traded 5.49% lower at 0.0430 lei ($0.01/0.01 euro) as at at 1509 CET on Tuesday on the Bucharest Stock Exchange.
($ =0.8804 euro)
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