Good times for Petromidia

Rompetrol Rafinare-Complex (Refining Complex) Petromidia held by private oil group Rompetrol estimates 2002 turnover to reach some $800 million, while the entire turnover of the group reached about $1bn, Eric Chis, general manager of the company told Ziarul Financiar.
The 2002 financial results of the Petromidia Navodari Refinery show an operating loss, yet lower than the one last year, the refinery officials say. Petromidia is no longer registering current debts, while the $200 million debts accumulated by the time of its takeover by Rompetrol in 2000 had been cut down to $80 million by the end of last year.
“Last year, we invested $50 million in retooling and operated a serious processing cost cutting at the refinery, which processed 3.2 million tonnes of crude. I hope we will attain the maximum processing capacity in 2003, namely 4 million tonnes of crude a year. Approximately 70% of the oil amount processed by Petromidia last year was sulphurous Ural-type crude (2% sulphur content), with the remaining 30% accounting for Romanian crude supplied by Petromar and sweet crude, which is more expensive and has a low sulphur content (about 1%),” Chis says.
According to the Petromidia official, the oil products in line with the Euro standards supplied by the refinery in 2002 accounted for 70% of the total products, a share due to increase to 80% this year.
The turnover anticipated for 2003 is worth about $800 million again, given that the performance of the refining facility is up to the quotes of the crude on the international market, as most of the processed oil is imported. “The entire refining industry is having a difficult time at the moment and profit margins are low. On the other hand, a shock is expected to occur on the market in 2005, when producing Euro compliant fuels becomes mandatory, because some of the refineries did not have either the time or the money for retooling,” Chis says.
The retooling will continue at Petromidia this year, with the refinery set to become fully automated, following $50 million investments.