Rompetrol Rafinare, a member company of Rompetrol Group, is celebrating today 30 years from the commissioning of the first installation on the Petromidia platform.
“The birth and evolution of Petromidia represents a success story for the Romanian refining sector. From a swamp land, in 1975, and two failed privatizations in 1999-2000, the refinery has become one of the refineries with the highest performance in Europe. During these 30 years, over 30,000 employees have contributed to the development of the plant, thus supporting the company objective to be one of the top 25 refineries in Europe.” stated Dinu Patriciu, the Executive Manager of the Rompetrol Group.
For the past three decades, Petromidia processed a total quantity of 80.7 million tonnes of raw material (77 million tonnes of crude oil), of which over 40% starting with 2001, the year in which the refinery was taken over by the Rompetrol Group.
In 2008 a historic record of 4.4 million tonnes of processed raw material was attained, from 3.7 million tonnes in 2007 and 1.15 million tonnes in 2000 (before takeover by the Rompetrol Group). For 2010, an increase in the processing capacity up to 5 million tonnes of crude oil is forecast.
These performances are supported by the numerous technological and environmental investments made by the company in the period 2001 – 2009, amounting to a total value over USD 520 million. The results obtained contributed to the achievement of a turnover exceeding USD 4.68 billion in 2008, i.e. 15 times higher than the turnover obtained in 2000, when its registered value was USD 312 million. The company also had a substantial contribution to the National Budget, with approximately USD 5.2 billion during the period of 2001 – 2009.
The refinery activity is closely related to the development of the specialized activities of the Group, which entails a rapid increase in the retail segment as well, from 10 gas stations in 2001, the year when it was taken over by the Group, to more than 900 fuel distribution points in Romania, France, Spain, Bulgaria, Moldova and Georgia.