The war in Ukraine was a shock, but also an opportunity for the operator of the national crude oil and petroleum products pipeline system Oil Terminal, said Gabriel Daraban, commercial director of the state-owned company.
“Now we are in a very good moment. Financially, the conflict in Ukraine rescued us and other merchants as weel, who were on the verge of selling out. It was the way out of a very difficult situation,” he said, at the conference “Digitalization and Energy Efficiency – Constanța”.
If in 2021 Oil Terminal handled an annual quantity of petroleum products of 6.6 million tonnes, these quantities have risen to 9.3 million tonnes.
Oil Terminal has managed to attract many international traders and has practically become a regional hub. The company now operates five berths, up from just two before 2022, and manages to unload 100,000-tonne ships, which is a national record, despite “no investment in port infrastructure for 30 years”.
The war in Ukraine, as well as the 2021 explosion at the Petromidia refinery, have led to a change in the attitude of many companies in this sector, in the sense that they have become aware of the risk of depending on a single supplier of petroleum products.
“All major port operators have been in a state of war because of the high volumes, demands and costs that ship owners, charterers and all those involved in production and transport have had,” he added.
On the other hand, if at the beginning of 2022, almost 99% of the volumes of petroleum products in Oil Terminal depots came from Russia, this has now radically changed.
Before the border conflict began, ships carrying Russian oil arrived in the port of Constanta within 36 hours and had “about the best diesel price on the market”.
Now costs are “extremely high” and it is increasingly difficult for the company to supply diesel to Romania and Ukraine. It is also becoming increasingly difficult for Oil Terminal’s customers to create a coherent supply chain.
In addition, in winter there are delays of up to two weeks for ships through the Bosphorus Strait.
The conference “Digitalization and Energy Efficiency – Constanța” was organized by Energynomics, with the support of our partners: ADC, Elektra Renewable Support, FPPG, WALDEVAR Energy.