Rompetrol Rafinare, a company member of KMG International, will suspend until November 15th the activity of the Petromidia refinery and of the petrochemical division, in order to carry out the scheduled maintenance. During the same period, the production activities of Vega refinery will also be reduced.
“This scheduled technical maintenance is important for the maintenance of the refineries and of the petrochemical division at optimal production capacities, but also for the creation of the necessary framework for future investments. In addition, this will allow the uninterrupted operation of the production installations within the Petormidia refinery until 2020, when the 4-year general overhaul is scheduled.” Yedil Utekov, the General Manager of Rompetrol Rafinare, said.
The maintenance works of the 3 production units (Petromidia and Vega refineries, the petrochemical division) will amount to about 21.5 million US dollars, to which about 4.5 million dollars could be added for additional operations. Under the coordination of the Rominserv company - the general contractor of KMG International, over 40 partner companies, 2,000 people on the Midia platform and about 200 at Vega, will contribute to the successful completion of such work.
The maintenance activity mainly aims at the implementation of 22 investment projects on the Midia platform and 5 in Vega, the preparation of the installations for the uninterrupted operation of the Petromidia refinery until 2020, but also the checking and re-endorsement of over 830 of pipes and equipment under pressure in the Petromidia and 283 in Vega.
An important project of this maintenance activity is represented by the replacement of a stripping column in the DGRS installation at Petromidia refinery (gas desulphurisation and sulfur recovery), a 24-meter-long equipment, with a diameter of 2.7 meters and weighing about 30 tons. Designed by Rominserv and manufactured in Romania by Comes Savinesti, it will replace the column commissioned in 1980 and will ensure the increase of the processing capacity and of the environment protection level.
At the same time, at Vega Refinery there will be replaced two columns of 23 and 26 meters at the Rectification Unit, the time required to remove the old ones, the adjustments and replacement of pipes, interior and exterior equipment installation (total works, commissioning and start-up being estimated in 24 days). The two were designed by Ludan Engineering and manufactured by UZUC Ploiesti.
The completion of the maintenance work aims at achieving a level of mechanical availability of 96.6% in Petromidia refinery after the recommissioning of the installations.
For the safety of the works and the achievement of the objective of zero accidents, the concerned companies have taken additional measures of labor protection and training of all subcontractors who will work on the Petromidia and Vega platforms during this period.
The Petromidia refinery processed, in the first half of the year, around 3.1 million tons of raw material, over 27% more as compared to the level obtained in the same period in 2017. The refinery represented more than 43 % of the internal processing capacity, being the greatest unit in the field in Romania and one of the most modern in the Black Sea region.
In the same period, Vega Refinery Ploiesti processed a total quantity of 194 thousand tons, 28% more as compared to the similar period in 2017. At present, the refinery is the oldest unit in the field in Romania and is the only internal producer of bitumen and hexane.
For this year, Petromidia has planned to process a total quantity of 5.44 million tons of raw materials, after it reached a record of 5.66 million tons in 2017. At the same time, Vega refinery intends to achieve a level of 387 thousand tons of raw materials processed, about 4 % more as compared with the volume registered last year.
The petrochemical division increased, in S1 2018, the total production of polymers by 26% as compared to January-June last year, up to a level of 81.6 thousand tons. For this year, the petrochemical division has planned to obtain a quantity of 205 thousand tons of polymers, as compared to a level of 147 thousand tons of polymers in 2017.
The petrochemical segment is the only producer of polypropylene and polyethylene in Romania, constantly managing to increase its market share for the secondary product categories as well. Its development strategy ensures a competitive position on the domestic market as well as on the regional one - the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea area, Eastern and Central Europe.
Public Relation and Communication Department
KMG International