Rompetrol Rafinare, member company of the KMG International Group, has completed most of the turnaround of the production units on the Petromidia platform and performs the last technical checks in order to restart the production activity in conditions of maximum safety. The technological installations will be restarted in stages and are expected to reach, by the end of October, the optimal operating efficiencies.

Against the background of the incident that occurred on July 2, 2021 in the Diesel Hydrotreating Unit (HPM), the production activities were stopped and a series of works were ordered for the restoration of the affected installations.

“The teams of specialists within the company, together with those from Rominserv and supported by companies with expertise, managed, between July and September, to verify, repair and test production assets, all being in line with the objective of constantly improve technical and operational safety performance. We thank our colleagues and partners for carrying out these operations properly. Together, we have a great responsibility in protecting employees, the community and the environment, but also in supplying oil products to Romania and the countries of the Black Sea region”, said Felix Crudu Tesloveanu, General Manager of Rompetrol Rafinare.

The schedule of works involved a large volume of actions, with a significant number of pipes checked, repaired or replaced, and all other equipment was checked and repaired, where necessary. At the same time, the instrumentation and electrical cables have been replaced and, in each installation, all the elements and equipment related to operational safety were checked, and the operating staff of the refinery was retrained and recertified.

During the works, more than 20 companies were involved, and the total number of people who worked for the reopening of the facilities was about 1,000 (employees of Rompetrol Rafinare, Rominserv and specialists from the contracted companies).

As for the Diesel Hydrotreating Unit, it has been technologically isolated, the completion of the reconstruction and restart will take place during 2022.

For all work carried out during this period of non-operation of the refinery, following the incident, Rompetrol Rafinare has been in contact with the competent authorities, with a view to restarting safely and in accordance with legal requirements.

Rompetrol Rafinare is the largest asset of the KMG International Group in Romania. The company operates the Group’s two refineries – Petromidia Năvodari and Vega Ploiești (the only producer of bitumen and hexane in Romania) and the only petrochemical division in the country.

The main shareholders of Rompetrol Rafinare SA are KMG International (54.63% – directly and indirectly) and the Romanian State through the Ministry of Energy (44.7%).