Rompetrol Rafinare SA—jointly owned by Kazakhstan’s state-owned JSC NC KazMunayGas (KMG) subsidiary KMG International NV (54.63%) and Romania’s Ministry of Economy Energy & Business Environment (44.7%)—has completed modernization works on the delayed coking unit (DCU) of its more than 5-million tonne/year Petromidia refinery in Năvodari Implemented during the refinery’s 2-month scheduled major turnaround that ran through mid-May and finalized as of July 17 the DCU project involved installation of a new drilling and cutting system for petroleum coke as well as automation of the unit’s production flow Part of the operator’s broader investment in the site-wide scheduled maintenance event the DCU’s $13-million modernization project included full replacement of the unit’s existing system with a new fully automated one that reduces the coke-cutting cycle by about 30 minutes and enables all actions to be performed semi-automatically Alongside improving DCU performance and reducing its impacts to the surrounding environment the upgrading project also increases the degree of protection and safety for refinery employees and operators we manage to bring the [DCU] to a new technological stage [serving as] an important [step] in terms of efficiency and operational safety,” said Florian Pop Rompetrol Rafinare’s general manager Now in operation for nearly 40 years, the DCU previously underwent a more than $50-million extensive modernization in 2013, as well as more recent modernization works in 2020 involving installation of a new light-diesel recovery system at the unit’s fractionation column (OGJ Online, Aug. 17, 2020) this year’s turnaround at Petromidia included a more than $25-million investment on works to changeout reactors in the refinery’s middle distillate hydrotreating unit and replace main equipment in the site’s hydrogen plant Reconstruction works on the refinery's mild hydrocracking unit also were completed during the turnaround The overall cost of the 2024 turnaround—which began Mar 8 and was concluded as of May 13—was about $85 million Robert Brelsford joined Oil & Gas Journal in October 2013 as downstream technology editor after 8 years as a crude oil price and news reporter on spot crude transactions at the US Gulf Coast He holds a BA (2000) in English from Rice University and an MS (2003) in education and social policy from Northwestern University Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker member company of the KMG International Group (KMGI) will suspend the operational activity of the Petromidia Navodari refinery works will be carried out to verify and recertify the production units and the operational flows In order to maintain and increase production efficiencies catalyst replacement works are also scheduled in the refinery units the company will also suspend the operational processes from the Vega Ploiesti refinery which operates with finished and semi-finished materials from Petromidia Navodari The works will be carried out by specialists from Rompetrol Rafinare Rominserv (general contractor of the KMGI Group) the company will continue to honor its contractual obligations deliveries of petroleum products to customers will be provided from its own stocks or with the support of the trading division of the KMGI Group The technological shutdown is a necessity for the good functioning of the refinery units and is part of the general strategy of the Group through which a precise calendar of activities has been established with general turnarounds carried out every 4 years and technological shutdowns scheduled every 2 years 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%) The largest Romanian refinery and one of the most modern refineries in South-East Europe with a material impact in Dobrogea region and at national level Petromidia makes a significant contribution to development of Rompetrol’s business in Romania and in the Black Sea region It plugs in the trading and supply business lines with fuel distribution in Rompetrol’s stations in Romania Based on the current work plan and pending delivery of equipment necessary for repairs and inspections of units affected by the July 2 incident Rompetrol intends to restart production activities at the refinery by the end of September remains contingent on verification and testing of equipment as well as approval and certification of processing installations by regulatory authorities Rompetrol said it has now submitted its application to the Romanian Ministry of Environment’s National Agency for Environmental Protection for approval of the repair project While the notice confirmed the project will involve works to repair and upgrade installations impacted by the incident—including the refinery’s catalytic reformer and gas fractionator—the operator did not indicate an anticipated timeframe for the application’s approval Rompetrol said it currently is carrying out electrical and other unidentified repair works in areas affected by the July event Announcement of the refinery’s planned restart follows the Aug 13 release of the operator’s first-half 2021 financial report to investors in which Felix Crudu-Tesloveanu—Rompetrol Rafinare’s general manager—said he expects the Petromidia refinery to return to normal operational capabilities in the fourth quarter With an investigation into the incident presumably still under way Rompetrol has yet to reveal a cause of the July explosion and fire which originated in the refinery’s diesel hydrotreating plant the company has successfully completed a new turnaround of the biggest refinery in Romania at the beginning of the works started on March 8 the general contractor of the KMG International Group (Rompetrol) regardless of size and operational importance according to the requirements of the beneficiary of the turnaround – Rompetrol Rafinare The development projects implemented as part of the turnaround required an investment of around 85 million dollars Among the most notable are those that concerned the replacement of the reactors in the Diesel Hydrorefining plant the modernization and change of some components and sub-assemblies in the Hydrogen unit Added to these is the completion of the reconstruction works of the Mild Hydrocracking (MHC) unit The works were executed with the support of more than 30 subcontracted companies from Romania and other European countries, with extensive expertise in projects of such scope. Throughout the turnaround, the representatives of these companies had operational and labor protection meetings with specialists from Rompetrol Rafinare and Rominserv, in accordance with the safety and security policies of the KMG International Group. The turnaround of the Petromidia refinery is a mandatory and necessary measure implemented by Rompetrol Rafinare both for the technological installations and for the employees on the platform The turnaround of Petromidia was successfully completed, despite the unfavorable fiscal context, in which Rompetrol Rafinare, as well as other entities of the KMG International Group, are targeted by surcharges that reduce the companies’ business competitiveness. Rompetrol Rafinare believes in creating a favorable framework for future investments in production capacities should a potential development of operational assets prove viable from its own stocks and with the support of the trading division of the KMG International Group (Rompetrol) the company ensured the fuel needed on the domestic market and supported the deliveries of petroleum products according to the commercial contracts in force Rompetrol Rafinare aims to process about 5 million tons of raw materials from which to obtain high yields and large volumes of white products – 2.19 million tons of diesel respectively 1.34 million tons of gasoline The relevant shareholders of Rompetrol Rafinare SA are KMG International (54.63% – directly and indirectly) and the Romanian State We use cookies for keeping our website reliable and secure providing social media features and to analyse how our website is used a member company of the KMG International Group (Rompetrol) initiated this year an extensive program of maintenance and modernization of the storage capacities for the products obtained in the Petromidia Navodari and Vega Ploiesti refineries The investment effort is estimated at around 40 million dollars “The works in the tank park are part of our operational strategy which aims to make production processes more flexible in total safety and environmental protection The project will lead to an increase of about 20% in the diesel storage capacity and will allow us to manage the transfer of finished and semi-finished products more efficiently With the support of the KMG International Group we are continuing the assumed path of developing the Petromidia and Vega refineries production units with a major positive impact for the Romanian energy sector,” said Felix Crudu-Tesloveanu rehabilitation and construction works are planned for approximately 50 tanks located in the Petromidia Navodari and Vega Ploiesti refineries The works are aimed at maintaining and modernizing storage capacities correlated with the evolution of raw material processing parameters in the Petromidia refinery the overall project aimed at the tank park will streamline transport logistics and increase operational safety the works started with the construction of three new tanks for petroleum products as well as the rehabilitation of a tank for semi-finished products and technical verifications are planned for another six tanks with a cumulative storage capacity of about 50,000 cubic meters which is intended for the modernization of the tank park A similar investment was included in the period 2011-2020 when KMG International (Rompetrol) allocated over 17 million dollars in the rehabilitation of over 20 tanks about two kilometres away from the Petromidia platform consisting of eight tanks with a total capacity of about 420,000 cubic metres connected by a land and submerse pipeline from MMT’s offshore terminal Rompetrol Rafinare has set out to achieve a production of almost 4 million tons of fuels out of a total of over 5 million tons of raw materials targeted for processing Immediately after the completion of the turnaround works from March to April the Petromidia refinery returned to optimal operational capacities with an average of over 15,000 tons of raw materials processed daily the company mainly concentrated its deliveries of petroleum products to cover the demands of the domestic market especially to the subsidiaries of KMG International – the Republic of Moldova The group is the largest fuel supplier in the Republic of Moldova and Georgia Petromidia Navodari is the largest refinery in the country and one of the most modern and complex profile units in the region which works in perfect synergy with the petrochemical division (the only national producer of polymers) but also with the Vega Ploiesti refinery (the only domestic producer of bitumen The significant shareholders of Rompetrol Rafinare are KMG International (54.63% – directly and indirectly) and the Romanian State through the Ministry of Energy (44.7%) The Kazakh-Romanian Energy Investment Fund (FIEKR) has approved two new investment projects aimed at creating synergies to production processes at Rompetrol Rafinare SA’s integrated 5 million-tonne/year Petromidia refinery in Navodari Scheduled to be completed in September 2022 at a cost of $35 million, the first project will involve construction and integration of a new dewaxing plant at Petromidia to enable the refinery to expand production of wintertime diesel fuels as well as increase output of aviation jet fuel, said Kazakhstan’s state-owned KazMunaiGas subsidiary KMG International Group 54.63% which jointly owns Rompetrol Petromidia with Romania’s Ministry of Economy Designed to expand polymer production at Petromidia by more than 30% to help meet regional demand for petrochemicals the second major project—scheduled for completion in June 2021—involves an $8-million conversion of the refinery’s existing high-density polyethylene (HDPE) unit into a polypropylene (PP) plant to increase the site’s current PP production of 90,000 tonnes/year to 120,000 tpy by 2022 While FIEKR will fully finance costs of the HDPE-PP unit conversion from its own resources the fund will only cover about 30% of the new dewaxing plant with the remaining project balance to be secured from local or international financial sources FIEKR aims to allocate an investment of about $1 billion in developing local Romanian energy projects which previously include the May 2019 approvals to build a cogeneration plant at the Petromidia refinery as well as to develop a regional gas station network to exclusively sell Efix automotive fuels produced by the refinery Due for implementation over a 4-yr period the combined electricity and heat production cogeneration plant will be equipped with the latest technology to ensure increased energy efficiency and compliance with strict environmental protection standards Alongside supplying heat and hot water to Navodari residents the cogeneration plant also will provide electricity and industrial steam to support Petromidia’s processing activities KMG International said FIEKR is currently in the process of selecting a general contractor to deliver engineering and construction on the cogeneration plant A pool of 17 unidentified local and international companies also have previously expressed interest in supplying technology equipment and solutions for the proposed plant FIEKR also inaugurated a new $1.3-million gas station in western Romania’s Timiș Country—on the border of Hungary and Serbia—as part of an existing fuel distribution network that currently includes 20 Rompetrol-branded gas stations FIEKR intends to expand Rompetrol’s fuel distribution network to 84 gas stations in Romania FIEKR’s total investment in Romanian energy projects amounts to $290 million including the newly announced dewaxing plant and HDPE-PP conversion projects at Petromidia Rompetrol Rafinare SA—jointly owned by Kazakhstan’s state-owned KazMunaiGas subsidiary KMG International Group 54.63% and Romania’s Ministry of Economy Energy & Business Environment 44.69%—has started nearly 7 weeks of planned maintenance at its 5 million-tonne/year Petromidia refinery in Navodari will include general maintenance at both the refining and petrochemical operations of Petromidia’s site Rompetrol Rafinare said in a filing to the Bucharest Stock Exchange Rompetrol Rafinare said it also will partially reduce production activities at its 8,000-b/d Vega refinery in Pahova County The operator said its decision to carry out maintenance at the Vega manufacturing site partially results from a reduction in raw and semifinished materials that will be delivered to the refinery during the Petromidia shutdown period While the Petromidia refinery will be fully offline during the scheduled turnaround Rompetrol Rafinare said it will cover demand for petroleum products from its own existing stocks or those secured from the regional market disclosed no details regarding the proposed maintenance projects to be undertaken at either the Petromidia or Vega sites Announcement of the planned maintenance event follows the recent startup of a new LPG recovery system at the Petromidia refinery in late February Designed to remove organic sulfur compounds and hydrocarbons from coking gases before they are sent to desulfurization plants and then into the refinery's fuel gas system the $4.6-million LPG recovery system has a maximum flow-rate processing capacity of 16,000 cu m/hr to ensure improved production flow through recovery and combustion of gases as well as enable a major reduction of sulfur from gases discharged to the refinery baskets well below the limit imposed by European environmental regulations "It is a unique project at the level of Romania and is part of [the company’s] strategy of continuous modernization of the operational processes at [its refineries] the turnaround focused on maintenance operations and compliance but also on new projects to support the refinery's future growth The most important investment projects executed during the planned maintenance period included replacement of old and installation of latest-generation reactors at the refinery’s catalytic reforming installation as well as replacement of older main components of the catalytic cracking unit with newer With restart activities now under way at the refinery Rompetrol Rafinare said production units are scheduled to resume operational flow and gradually reach nominal capacities “in the next period,” which was not specifically defined Recommissioning of the Petromidia refining and petrochemicals complex following the 2020 general turnaround coincides with restart of production processes at Rompetrol Rafinare’s 8,000-b/d Vega refinery in Pahova County at which operations also were partially reduced to carry out planned maintenance and inspections during the same period Since works executed during the planned maintenance event were coordinated and carried out in compliance with the rules of social distancing by KMG International’s SC Rominserv SRL turnaround activities remained on schedule and without incident despite the COVID-19 health crisis Rompetrol Rafinare said it now plans to schedule general turnarounds for the Petromidia refinery and petrochemical operations every 4 years and technological shutdowns every 2 years as part of a new operating strategy which occurred during the early morning hours on July 2 at the refinery’s diesel hydrotreating plant resulted in four injuries and one fatality according to a series of separate releases and official social media posts from KMG International and Rompetrol While the fire was fully extinguished and the site contained by a team of onsite and military firefighters later the same day Rompetrol said the refinery remains shutdown pending an assessment of the incident’s impact on technological operations at the manufacturing site which will issue a potential timeline for restarting the refinery following results of the damage assessment confirmed will maintain fuel deliveries to its branded stations in Romania and the Black Sea region during the shutdown period A team of Petromidia specialists and external authorities has been assembled to investigate the cause of the incident In a July 6 posting to its official social media accounts Rompetrol said it also is in discussions with employees and their union representatives regarding solutions to increase safety measures across the Petromidia platform as well as ways to maintain jobs for workers at the site in the wake of the incident and current shutdown The refinery blast as well as the latest discussion with union representatives come amid the context of Rompetrol’s already ongoing union negotiations related to increasing salaries of Petromidia employees as part of their collective contracts of employment the Petromidia refinery processed more than 4.8 million tonnes of crude to produce Euro 5-quality fuels including 1.16 million tonnes of gasoline and more than 2.6 million tonnes of diesel and kerosine according to the operator’s latest annual report Crude processing at the refinery during first-quarter 2021 amounted to 1.26 million tonnes the new 80-Mw cogeneration plant will provide about 60-70 Mw of electricity to fully cover needs of the Petromidia platform as well as deliver up to 180 tonnes/hr of industrial steam to support processing activities at the site Consisting of two Siemens SGT-750 turbines and two heat-recovery boilers the cogeneration plant—which will receive 25% and 75% of its primary natural gas fuel from the refinery’s technological processes and the national network respectively—is currently under execution by Çalık Enerji Sanayi ve Ticaret AS of Turkey to which KREIF awarded the contract for engineering and construction (EPC) on the project in August 2020 KREIF in 2020 also approved partial funding to Rompetrol for two other investment projects at Petromidia both aimed at creating synergies for the refinery’s production processes Previously scheduled to be completed in September 2022 at a cost of $35 million the first project was to involve construction and integration of a new dewaxing plant at Petromidia to enable the refinery to expand production of wintertime diesel fuels as well as increase output of aviation jet fuel Designed to expand polymer production at Petromidia by more than 30% to help meet regional demand for petrochemicals the second major project—initially due for completion in June 2021—was to involve an $8-million conversion of the refinery’s existing high-density polyethylene (HDPE) unit into a polypropylene (PP) plant to increase the site’s current PP production of 90,000 tpy to 120,000 tpy by 2022 While Rompetrol referenced the dewaxing and HDPE-PP projects in its May 27 release announcing start of construction on the cogeneration plant the company disclosed no further details regarding statuses of either project did confirm in its 2020 annual report to investors released in April 2021 that it planned to carry out basic and detailed design for the proposed conversion of the PP installation as part of a continuation of a delayed 2020 plan member company of the KMG International Group (Rompetrol) a series of programmed technological operations in order to support the corresponding operational activity of the Petromidia refinery the largest profile unit in the country will reduce its production capacity in order to carry out work to change and regenerate catalysts decoking and other specific maintenance operations the refinery will continue to process at optimal production capacity approximately 15,000 tons of raw materials processed daily in compliance with all occupational safety and environmental protection norms the company will continue to provide the fuel needed on the Romanian market The fuels produced in the Petromidia refinery are primarily addressed to the domestic market but they also support exports to countries such as the Republic of Moldova The Petromidia refinery is one of the most modern in the Black Sea region and represents approximately 40% of the refining capacity in Romania The Navodari facility has a stable flow of raw material thanks to deliveries of Kazakh crude oil made with the support of KazMunayGas the national oil and gas company of Kazakhstan the Petromidia Navodari refinery processed more than 3.8 million tons of raw materials achieving a production of approximately 1 million tons of gasoline and 1.97 million tons of diesel and Jet A1 fuels the degree of utilization of the refining capacity was at the maximum level of 100% with a total of 1.5 million tons of raw materials processed The significant shareholders of Rompetrol Rafinare SA are KMG International (54.63% – directly and indirectly) and the Romanian State through the Ministry of Energy (44.7%) The Ministry of Energy and E-Distribuție Dobrogea signed a non-refundable financing contract through the Modernization Fund in the total amount of 47,709,307.08 lei (VAT included) modernization and systematization of medium-voltage electrical installations related to the Năvodari 110/20kV primary substation in order to distribute and supply electricity at a quality level consistent with the performance standard the maximum amount covered from the Modernization Fund is 80% of the eligible expenses respectively 31,499,799.63 lei (VAT included) while the amount covered by E-Distribuție Dobrogea is 16,209,507 The project aims to modernize medium voltage networks modernize substations and introduce the remote control system of substations for the benefit of the residents of the Năvodari area The validity of the contract ends at the end of the project sustainability monitoring period five years from the date of commissioning of the investment The estimated implementation period by E-Distribuție Dobrogea is a maximum of 29 months Minister of Energy: “Some of the most important green energy production units are concentrated in Dobrogea The development of the distribution network is vital to the national energy system We strongly support the modernization of distribution networks This investment is good news both for large companies and for domestic consumers I am also thinking here of those who have created accommodation units in Năvodari” General Manager of E-Distributie companies: “The energy transition we are now in the midst of is only possible through investment and investment in electricity transmission and distribution grids is at the heart of this are one of the levers that support companies in the implementation of their investment plans and citizens who will benefit from better and sustainable services.” non-refundable financing in the total amount of 110,960,858.93 lei (VAT included) for investments via this project through the Modernization Fund and through the Large Infrastructure Operational Program 2014-2020 POIM calls/ 968/10/2/ and POIM/970/10/2/ – Increasing energy efficiency and the use of renewable energy sources in order to prepare a green digital and resilient recovery of the economy the three E-Distribuție companies have attracted non-refundable financing in the total amount of 212,235,830.77 lei (VAT included) The E-Distribuție companies operate networks with a total length of over 133,000 kilometers in three important areas of the country: South Muntenia (including Bucharest) covering one third of the local distribution market and develop an investment program to improve the quality of services the safety and performance of the networks and the local implementation of the environmental standards of the Enel group The grids operated by the three E-Distribuție companies count 287 primary substations and over 24,000 substations they distributed 15.5 TWh of electricity through high The Romanian Order of Architects has announced an open single-stage contest to re-landscape the beaches in Constanța’s Mamaia resort [Deadline: 11 September 2023] The contest – organised on behalf of the National Administration of Romanian Waters – seeks an ‘integrated plan for the sustainable development of the beaches’ located in the northern part of the city bordering the Mamaia resort The call for concepts focusses on a strip of land which was the focus of coastal erosion but has been the focus of a sand replenishment programme in recent years The project aims to boost tourism while also promoting biodiversity and sustainability within the port settlement located in the Northern Dobruja region of Romania on the Black Sea coast According to the brief: ‘The beach is part of the natural strip that separates Lake Siutghiol from the Black Sea a predominantly flat coastal area with fine sand and a relatively mild marine climate ‘The aim of the competition is to select the best solution for the planning and development of the beach area in accordance with the nature and specific landscape of the Black Sea coast a solution capable of integrating the elements of the built space its specific activities and the necessary facilities open to the accessibility of all categories of users takes into account the principles of biodiversity and sustainability ‘This competition encourages creativity while supporting urban and architectural research toward an integrated concept for the redesign of the current beach area.’ Constanța is a historic port town on the Black Sea coast with a population of around 667,860 residents Key local landmarks include the Genoese Lighthouse the Grand Mosque of Constanța and the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul Arhitectură, Construcții, Design won a contest last year for a new urban park planned as the centrepiece of Constanța’s ‘DN3C’ urban extension project which will transform a series of light industrial and agricultural areas on the north east fringes of the city into a new residential zone The latest project focusses on a 6.5km stretch of beach that once hosted a Romanian royal family palace and witnessed rapid redevelopment in the post war era to become a major centre of summer tourism Key current challenges facing the area – which suffers from not having an integrated long-term design and management plan – include sand levels that are too high and a lack of changing rooms Judges for the contest will include the architect and urbanist Irina Criveanu the landscape architect Ana Horhat and Razvan Radu representing the contracting authority The overall winner – to be announced 19 September – will receive a €1.5 million design contract while a second prize of €37,500 third prize of €17,500 and three honourable mentions each worth €5,000 will also be awarded Tags Hutchison Ports is recruiting a design team for its new £9 million… An open international contest is being held for a major €27.5 million… An international design and build contest is being held for 25 new… The UK Research and Innovation Science and Technology Facilities Council (UKRI-STFC) has… Rompetrol Rafinare has completed the modernization of two new tanks in the storage park of the Petromidia Năvodari refinery The investment for the two projects was approximately 6.5 million dollars and is part of a general program of maintenance we aim to increase flexibility in the operational sector the rehabilitation of existing capacities being a business necessity on schedule and in compliance with all safety regulations we will have the capacity to store 20% more diesel and we will be able to better manage the flows of finished and semi-finished products” The last completed project aimed the reconstruction of a gasoline tank (B6) This was achieved through the use of a technique that involved the utilization of hydraulic jacks all welding and technical operations were carried out on the ground can increase the reliability of the Petromidia refinery by 25% in the event of a technological shutdown of the Naphtha Hydrotreater (NH) unit the risks of the production unit having affected operational yields are excluded With the re-introduction of the tank into flow and on the basis of the constant works carried out in recent years the total diesel storage capacity in the Petromidia refinery has increased by over 20% which gives the Năvodari unit greater flexibility in the transportation of finished products Rompetrol Rafinare is currently running projects for the rehabilitation of two other tanks The general program for the rehabilitation of the storage tanks in the Petromidia Năvodari and Vega Ploiesti refineries will run until 2027 and total investments of over 10 million dollars have been made rehabilitation and construction is planned for about 50 units which is intended for the modernization of the storage park A similar investment was included between 2011 and 2020 when KMG International (Rompetrol) allocated over 17 million dollars to the rehabilitation of over 20 tanks a KMG International Group (Rompetrol) member company has recently finalized modernizing the Delayed Coking Unit (Cx) of the Petromidia refinery by implementing a new drilling/cutting system of petroleum coke but also the automation of the production flow The total value of the investment was about 13 million dollars we manage to bring the Delayed Coking Unit to a new technological stage an important progress in terms of efficiency Such projects show that the turnaround does not only mean maintenance and recertifications but also the fact that Rompetrol Rafinare has foreseen an important development component involved replacing the system with a stateof-the-art one supplied by a German company with experience and expertise in such equipment The new system represents a technological advantage making it possible to reduce the cutting cycle by approximately 30 minutes and all maneuvers can be performed semi-automatically and automatically the investment contributes to reducing the impact on the environment but also to increasing the degree of protection and safety of employees with benefits including in the operation of the unit All the equipment related to the new system (the equipment of the maneuvering system and the supporting and guiding metal structures) are located at heights between 45 and 88 meters the implementation of the project represented a challenge from a mechanical and execution point of view with strict safety regulations being followed at every stage The works were coordinated by Rominserv specialists the general contractor of the KMG International Group (Rompetrol) and were executed by seven companies with expertise in the field The Delayed Coking Unit contributes to the superior valorization of crude oil and obtaining semi-finished products with added value part of which are transferred to and processed in other units in the Petromidia Navodari and Vega Ploiesti refineries low-sulfur end product obtained in the Delayed Coking Plant It is used for heating by the general population commercial companies and public institutions Having a high calorific value – approximately 8,200 kcal/kg more than twice as high as average firewood it is recommended to be used in special installations the unit underwent in 2013 an extensive modernization project costing more than 50 million dollars which resulted in a 90% reduction of technological consumption an annual decrease of losses of approximately 3 million dollars The most recent modernization works were performed in 2020 when a new light diesel recovery system was installed at the fractionation column As part of this year’s general turnaround Rompetrol Rafinare also implemented other important projects such as changing the reactors in the Middle Distillate Hydrotreating Unit (HDV) or replacing the main equipment in the Hydrogen Plant involved an investment effort of more than 25 million dollars the Petromidia refinery marks 45 years of operation during which it processed about 150 million tons of raw materials the refinery in Navodari being a pillar of stability for the national energy sector The significant shareholders of Rompetrol Rafinare SA are KMG International (54.63% – directly and indirectly) and the Romanian State has started the general turnaround of the Petromidia refinery scheduled for the period March 8 – April 26 an extensive project aimed at the maintenance recertification and modernization of the production units of the largest refinery in Romania all installations will stop their operational processes the oil product will be removed from all production units and the actual works will last about 40 days and specialists estimate that Petromidia will be able to return to optimal capacity in May The works will be coordinated by Rominserv (the general contractor of KMG International) and will be carried out with the support of over 30 subcontracted companies from Romania and other European countries which have wide expertise in such projects aimed at replacing the reactors in the Diesel Hydrotreater unit modernizing and changing some components and subassemblies in the Hydrogen Plant The Petromidia general turnaround is a mandatory and necessary measure implemented by Rompetrol Rafinare aimed at ensuring a higher safety rate of both technical installations the Vega Refinery from Ploiesti will partially reduce its activity but also due to the reduction of raw materials and semi-finished products supplied by the Petromidia Refinery from Navodari.