Rompetrol Downstream, the retail division of the Rompetrol Group, finalized in early April the first control and monitoring center for gas stations in Romania, the total value of the investment reaching over USD 16.3 million.
”The Rompetrol Operation Center (ROC) is a premiere in this field for Romania, providing a real-time monitoring and coordination of the fuel transport and distribution operations. The ROC also provides a strict quality and traceability control over these products, from refinery all the way to the customer’s tank” says Titov Buzescu, General Manager of Rompetrol Downstream and Vice-president for Retail and Marketing of the Rompetrol Group.
Among the parameters monitored by the new center there are also the ones associated to the selling equipments in the Rompetrol stations, the fuel supply, safety and security (sensors that detect motion, access, temperature and smoke, explosion, video surveillance), but also associated to the monitoring system of tanker trucks and the fuel unloading process.
“The new center will significantly contribute also to improving the solutions, processes and equipments for the stations, implicitly to the growth and optimization of the current activities of the operated network. For example, the centralization of the monitoring systems allowed for an approximately 30% cut of the time necessary for interventions, and the integration of the services provided by partner companies determined associated costs to drop by some 50% (maintenance, operating)” adds Titov Buzescu.
Currently, the ROC controls the Rompetrol Expres mobile stations, own stations and the internal bases with a capacity of 20 m3, dedicated to the major fuel customers, such as companies from the food industry, constructions and transportation. By the end of August, the company will also finish the integration of activities associated to the Partener Rompetrol stations and 9 m3 internal bases.
The personnel of the center is made up of 16 persons, 5 of which are employees of Rominserv (the general contractor of the Rompetrol Group) – for stations maintenance, 2 Rompetrol Logistics (the logistic division of the Group) – for fuel transportation. The ROC is in direct connection with the dispatcher of the Company Global Security Systems SA (GSS), the security division of the Rompetrol Group, for ensuring stations security.
Rompetrol Downstream operates over 450 gas stations and 7 fuel storage facilities domestically, being the first commercial network since 2003 to exclusively market Euro standard fuels.