Lukoil Jump-Starts Petrotel Refinery

The old refinery in Telejean will start to operate again today, after a long brake due to modernization investments and misunderstandings between authorities and the new owner: Russian company Lukoil. Renamed Petrotel Lukoil, the refinery will make 475,000 tons of gasoline and 500,000 tons of Diesel oil per year, said the executive manager Dumitru Constantin.
This will happen if the refinery will work at full capacity, which is refining 2.5 million tons of crude per year. Some 50% of its products will be exported.
The refinery in Ploiesti adds its capacity to the domestic output which was estimated for 2004 at 5.2 million tons.

Lukoil officials did not comment on the influence their company will have on the price of gasoline in Romania. The refinery was modernized with a 120 million dollars investment.
"One needs at least three months of operation to analyze the full impact of the investments," said Vladimir Zdobnov, general manager of Petrotel Lukoil.
Insisting on finding out if crude bought domestically at lower prices than the world market ones will drag down prices, Zdobnov said that the mother company delivers the crude to those operating in Romania, at world market prices.

Opening Petrotel refinery for operation takes place at a very busy moment in the fuel market in Romania. Lukoil already operates some 250 gas stations and plans to expand to 300 gas stations by the year-end.
According to its own estimates, Lukoil has 17% of the market, with Petrom, recently bought by OMV taking some 45% of it. OMV announced though that will give up around half of its 650 gas stations it operates.
As the price hike is inevitable and the gasoline will reach one euro per liter in the next two years, Rompetrol and MOL said they will expand their network of gas stations, while AGIP and Shell disclaim rumors that they will sell theirs.