Market Conditions Force Two Romanian Refineries to Shut Down

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Steaua Romana S.A. (Campina, Romania) was forced to shut down its 4,800-barrel-per-day (BBL/d) Steaua Romana Refinery, which is in the city of Campina, 100 kilometers north of Bucharest. It is the smallest of six refineries in Romania. Created in 1895, it produces a wide range of distillates, such as paraffins, solvents, Eurodiesel and domestic fuels.

In March 2009, the five units of the production area (the crude distillation unit, the two vacuum units, the gas oil hydrotreater unit and the lube oil dewaxing unit) were forced to shut down due to the poor economic situation. According to company's sources, the units will resume activities only when market conditions become favorable. Under normal conditions, refinery maintenance turnarounds are performed once a year.

Separately, in June 2010, the 70,000-BBL/d Arpechim Refinery, owned and operated by Petrom S.A. (Bucharest, Romania), was forced to shutdown its production area with 26 units in all, for the same reasons.

Created in 1964, Arpechim is considered one of the largest refineries in Romania, after the 89,000-BBL/d Petrobrazi refinery, which is owned and operated by Petrom as well. Both are interconnected via pipeline to the Constanta Port. Arpechim specializes in the production of bitumen for national comsumption,

Under normal conditions, turnarounds are performed every four years. The last turnaround took place during the second quarter of 2007.

Romania has six refineries operated by four different companies: the 4,800-BBL/d Steaua Romana Refinery; the 68,000-BBL/d Petrotel Refinery, created in 1904 and operated by Lukoil Company (OTC:LUKOY) (Moscow, Russia); the 10,000-BBL/d Vega Ploiesti Refinery, built in 1904; the 70,000-BBL/d Petromidia Refinery, created in 1970; the 89,000-BBL/d Petrobrazi Refinery, built in 1934; and the 70,000-BBL/d Arpechin Refinery. The latter two are part of Petrom S.A. The Vega Ploiesti and Petromidia refineries were acquired by the Rompetrol Group NV (Amsterdam, Netherlands).

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