“In the second half of the year, investment at the refinery will enter production and we will process 4.6 million tons of crude oil, compared to 3.8 million tons in 2011,” said Marius Ghica, president of The Rompetrol Group Corporate Center, within the ZF Power Summit seminar held by business daily Ziarul Financiar.
He added that in 2011 the group sold 1.4 million tons of oil products in Romania, while the rest of output went to other markets in the region.
Rompetrol plans to increase its market share on the fuel sale segment on all markets, while expecting the fuel market to shrink.
Gasoline consumption declined 9% in Roania last year, but demand for diesel fuel increased by 7%.
“Romania’s pump prices are already aligned to international ones. (…) Prices will follow international developments. There might be a decline in demand, as prices grow,” Ghica said.
The program to boost capacity at Petromidia was launched in 2007, and it reaches a total estimated investment value of $367 million, with a completion deadline in the first half of this year.
The Rompetrol group, owned by Kazakh state-run KazMunayGas, will continue to significantly reduce expenditure on all sectors of activity, so that it would break even this year.