Page 15 - EurOil Week 27 2021

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Romania’s biggest refinery Serbia and Hungary connect Lithuania’s further expansion.
Orlen acquired the then Mazeikiu Nafta
Petromidia stopped after Balkan Stream gas pipeline in 2006 and claims to have invested almost
$4bn into the refinery so far.
accident State-owned Serbian gas company Srbijagas
and its Hungarian counterpart FGSZ
The operations at Romania’s biggest oil completed a connection of Balkan Stream Bulgaria’s DANS probes
refinery, Rompetrol Rafinare (Petromidia), gas pipeline on the border with Hungary
part of Kazakh state-owned group KMG, on July 4, the Serbian Radio and Television energy holding over gas
were “safely stopped” following an explosion reported the same day.
followed by a fire that killed one and injured The pipeline will bring gas from Turkey to interconnector with Greece
another five, the company announced in a Central Europe via Bulgaria and Serbia.
note to investors. From July 5 Hungary will lease its Bulgaria’s national security agency (DANS)
The company’s shares edged down by capacities, and Serbia will become an is probing the state-owned Bulgarian
2% on July 2, when the explosion was important transit country for Central Energy Holding (BEH) over costs related
announced. Europe. The first gas will flow through Serbia to the construction of the gas link with
The installation damaged by the explosion to Central Europe from October 1. Greece, Mediapool news outlet reported on
is subject to a $20mn insurance contract with “No one in Serbia will freeze anymore, June 29.
Omniasig, which the Romanian insurer says and the price of gas for households will The caretaker government of Prime
that it reinsured 100%, according to Ziarul not change from the fall either. The price Minister Stefan Yanev has revealed
Financiar daily. increase due to the price of oil, which is numerous cases of misuse of funds, abuse
The refinery will continue to provide accompanied by the price of gas, will spill of office and corruption by the previous
fuel for the Rompetrol fuel distribution over to Srbijagas,“ the Srbijagas General government and the management of state-
chain in Romania and the Black Sea region, Manager, Dusan Bajatovic, explained. owned companies.
Economica.net informed quoting company’s In May 2019, ICGB picked Greece’s
representatives. J&P-Avax to build the gas link for
Romanian Minister of Energy Virgil €144.8mn, while Corinth Pipeworks
Popescu declared after the explosion that for Orlen Lithuania and energy Industry was selected to supply line pipes
the time being there are no problems with worth €58.2mn. In October, contracts
the stocks of fuels, but this depends on how minister sign document on were signed with J&P-Avax and Corinth
fast the refinery will resume operations. Pipeworks Industry.
“From the data we have today, I don’t refinery investment According to Mediapool, DANS is
think there will be problems with the investigating BEH following a report
stocks. I also talked to the representatives Orlen Lietuva (Orlen Lithuania), a from the leader of the ABV party Rumen
of OMV Petrom, who are in constant Lithuanian company owned by Poland’s Petkov that two facilities were taken out
contact with Petromidia, and they do not oil group Orlen, and Lithuanian Energy of the contract for the construction of the
see any problems either. This is the analysis Minister Dainius Kreivys on July 1 signed interconnector, but the end price was not
at the moment, but the effects depend on a letter of intent regarding investment into lowered.
the damages that will be registered at the the oil refinery in the Lithuanian city of The company in charge of the
Petromidia refinery and how long it will be Mazeikiai. construction of the interconnector – ICGB,
closed,” said Popescu. Planned investments will allow in which BEH and Greece-Italian Poseidon
“We asked Rompetrol for an information significantly increasing – from 73% to 86% – are shareholders – explained that the
note on fuel stocks and now we are waiting the yield of high profitability products, Orlen facilities were scrapped as they are not
for the answer. From the first information, says. necessary and their value will be removed
the depots were not affected by the fire,” the “Investments into implementaton of the from the end price of the project.
minister added. The fire that broke out on bottom of the barrel project at the Mazeikiai The interconnector will be 182 km long,
Friday at the Petromidia refinery, owned refinery will increase the company’s profit of which 151 km will be on Bulgarian
by the Kazakh KMG group, the former and consolidate its stability. It would also territory. Its capacity is planned to be 3bn
Rompetrol Group, occurred at the diesel and allow creating more jobs,” Daniel Objatek, cubic metres. Bulgaria and Greece signed
oil refining plant, and all the technological board chairman at Orlen, said in a statement. a delayed final investment decision on
processes inside the refinery were stopped, The sides agreed to coordinate necessary building the interconnector in December
the company informed. legal changes as well as technical and 2015.
Petromidia is the largest refinery in practical logsitics solutions. According to Meanwhile, the caretaker Regional
Romania and one of the most modern in the Orlen, following the implementation of Development Minister Violeta Komitova
Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea area. the planned investments, the company will revealed that the costly BG Toll system
The strategic location and the complex produce higher-yield lighter oil products. for road toll collection is working without
distribution network make Petromidia a real Orlen Lietuva CEO Michal Rudnicki profit, while the road infrastructure agency
energy hub, able to substantially cover the earlier told Lithuanian media that investment (API) has signed a controversial contract
network of distribution stations in Romania. in the modernisation of the Lithuanian with the company that built and supports
Also, the fuel produced at Petromidia is crude refinery might exceed 1 billion zlotys the system, Kapsch Traffic Solutions.
distributed in countries such as Bulgaria, (around €220mn), which would be spent on API signed a BGN146mn (€74.6mn)
Georgia or the Republic of Moldova, where it improvements in refining efficiency so as to contract with Kapsch Traffic Solution for
is also sold under the Rompetrol brand. increase the yield of light products per barrel. five-year support, which includes spare
He then said the project was key to Orlen parts. However, the company is only taking

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