Patriciu: Rompetrol group to reach $2.5bn

Rompetrol group, the second biggest player on the oil market, will this year hit turnover worth 2.5 billion dollars, the group”s chairman Dinu Patriciu stated late last week. At this value, the group will come close to the turnover derived by the market leader, Petrom.

In 2004, the Rompetrol group registered turnover worth 1.6 billion dollars. In the first nine months of this year, Rompetrol SA company, operating the Vega Ploiesti refinery, saw a net income worth 14.9 million RON (over $5 million), after having made losses the previous year.

The group”s management announced an investment plan of 260 million dollars for the modernisation of the Petromidia refinery by 2007, with the refinery”s processing capacity to increase from 3.8 million to 5 million tonnes per annum during this period. The production surge is largely aimed at boosting Petromidia”s regional exports to markets where the group carries out operations – Bulgaria, Albania and Macedonia. Recently, Petromidia finalised works on 24 modernisation projects, worth a total 30 million dollars. This year, 25,000 modernisation and revision activities were carried out, involving some 3,000 people.

Petromidia”s activities were halted for the routine maintenance of installations this autumn and were resumed at the end of last week. At the same time, the Rompetrol group plans to invest 100 million dollars to restart Petromidia”s petrochemical operations, a facility that has not been used in the last ten years.