Rompetrol Rafinare wraps Petromidia refinery turnaround

Rompetrol Rafinare SA—jointly owned by Kazakhstan’s state-owned KazMunaiGas subsidiary KMG International Group 54.63% and Romania’s Ministry of Economy, Energy & Business Environment 44.69%—has completed a 45-day general turnaround at its 5 million-tonne/year Petromidia refinery in Navodari, Romania, on the Black Sea (OGJ Online, Mar. 16, 2020).

Scheduled between Mar. 13-Apr. 30, the turnaround focused on maintenance operations and compliance, but also on new projects to support the refinery's future growth, Rompetrol Rafinare said on May 5.

The most important investment projects executed during the planned maintenance period included replacement of old and installation of latest-generation reactors at the refinery’s catalytic reforming installation, as well as replacement of older main components of the catalytic cracking unit with newer, more efficient ones, according to the operator.

With restart activities now under way at the refinery, Rompetrol Rafinare said production units are scheduled to resume operational flow and gradually reach nominal capacities “in the next period,” which was not specifically defined.

Recommissioning of the Petromidia refining and petrochemicals complex following the 2020 general turnaround coincides with restart of production processes at Rompetrol Rafinare’s 8,000-b/d Vega refinery in Pahova County, near Ploiesti, Romania, at which operations also were partially reduced to carry out planned maintenance and inspections during the same period.

Since works executed during the planned maintenance event were coordinated and carried out in compliance with the rules of social distancing by KMG International’s SC Rominserv SRL, turnaround activities remained on schedule and without incident despite the COVID-19 health crisis.

With the 2020 turnaround finalized, Rompetrol Rafinare said it now plans to schedule general turnarounds for the Petromidia refinery and petrochemical operations every 4 years and technological shutdowns every 2 years as part of a new operating strategy.