Rome Refinery to Cease Activities by End of Year

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Total ERG, a joint venture between Total SA (NYSE:TOT) (Paris, France) (51%) and ERG SpA (BIT:ERG) (Milan, Italy) (49%), plans to cease operations at its 86,000 barrel-per-day (BBL/d) refinery in Rome, Italy. Like many other refineries in Europe, the refinery has been affected by a drop in refining profit margins. For more information, see May 21, 2012, article - Italy's Venezia Refinery Resumes Operations After Six Months of Inactivity.

On May 18, the joint venture announced its intention of converting the refinery into a storage terminal and integrated logistical facility to help cater to the area's petroleum transportation needs. The Rome Refinery is the second Italian refinery forced to cease operations due to declining market conditions in less than a year. Tamoil's (Geneva, Switzerland) 100,000-BBL/d Cremona refinery, closed in July 2011.

The Rome refinery has 250 direct employees and produces about 86,000 BBL/d of distillates. According to refinery sources, units are scheduled to cease operations by September-October 2012; however, it remains uncertain how this process will be accomplished, as not only will the refinery to have refining remaining stocked products, but also it will have to implement security measures before proceeding with dismantling.

The refinery is and will continue to be used as a terminal an important logistical basis.

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