Doljchim closure affects Petrom

Petrom”s decision to close the Doljchim chemical plant in order to increase the amount of natural gas supplied by the former on the domestic market will cause losses for the petroleum company. “The losses could be relatively small compared with Petrom”s results and depend on the duration of the cold weather period. In any case, Doljchim will lose its product margin and there will also be the losses caused by shutting down the plant and starting it back up again,” Petrom officials commented for ZIARUL FINANCIAR. Petrom, the largest natural gas producer in Romania and SE Europe announced two days ago it had decided to temporarily shut down Doljchim and increase production to boost the daily gas output by up to 20%. Petrom and Romgaz are taking steps to increase the production of natural gas after prior consultations with the Ministry of Economy and Trade, given the recent reduction in the quantities imported from Russia through Isaccea (Dobrogea). Petrom is now turning out more than 17 million cubic metres a day, covering about one quarter of the demand in Romania. Imports from Russia account for some 40% of consumption at the moment. ZF