Thus, the refining activities performed by the Petromidia Navodari and Vega Ploiesti refineries, but also by the petrochemistry division, amounted to 4.14 million tons of raw material in the January-September period of the year, 5% less as compared to the level reached in the similar period of 2015. The difference was mainly determined by the stoppage of the production activities of the Petromidia refinery in August for the execution of certain investment and maintenance works, but [also] for the remedy of the area affected by the August 22 fire. As feedstock processed per day efficiency, Petromidia refinery managed to improve its daily run-rate by +3% up to 15.51 ktons/day vs. 15.08 ktons/day in same interval of 2015.
The Group’s refining division registered in the first 9 months of the 2016 year a 44% increase of the operational result (EBITDA), up to a level of $74.1 million, in the context of a 4% increase of the sales on the internal market and of the decrease of export deliveries – effect of the diminishment of the demand from the profile market. In the first 9 months of 2016, through the refining and petrochemistry divisions, the Group exported a total quantity of products of 1.7 million tons, mainly to the partners in the Black Sea region.
KMG International is the majority shareholder of Rompetrol Rafinare with a share of 54.63% (direct and indirect), alongside the Romanian state through the Ministry of Energy which holds a share of 44.69%.
The volume of the oil products internally sold by the Group amounted to 1.95 million tons (+11%), of which more than 53% was represented by the fuels distributed by Rompetrol Downstream through Rompetrol stations (+2%), but also on a wholesale basis to partners (+12%). At the end of September, the company internally operated a network of 729 fuel sale points, 6 warehouses, 230 car LPG supply stations and 9,000 cylinder distribution points.
The operational result (EBITDA) of the retail operations in Romania was USD 40.2 million at the level of Downstream Romania entity, +20% higher. Among the measures which supported the reaching of this performance, there are the continuation of the program to transfer Rompetrol stations to dealers’ administration, the finalization of the gas station rebranding program, the finalization in August of the implementation of the new system to automate profile activities from the 6 warehouses in Romania (Mogosoaia, Arad, Craiova, Zarnesti, Vatra Dornei, Simleul Silvaniei).
At a regional level, the Group reached a level of oil product trading deliveries of approximately 1,395 million tons to its subsidiaries and to the traditional partners. The total fuel sales registered by the Bulgaria, Moldova and Georgia subsidiaries were in the first nine months of the year of 673,000 tones, +14% as compared to the level related to the similar period in 2015.
The operational result (EBITDA) of the business unit trading operations performed by the Group in the January –September period amounted to $22.4 million, 25% higher, on the background of the improvement of the profitability related to the sales of raw materials to third parties.
The results obtained by the Group in the first 9 months of the year were also supplemented by the benefits of the program for the transformation of its operations and activities, initiated in 2013. Thus, in the same period, the direct impact of the performed projects amounted to $19.7 million, such projects aiming at increasing the efficiency of the Petromidia refinery, improving the volumes of oil products sold in Romania and in the Black Sea region, but also implementing the corporate service center at the level of the KMG International Group.