Romania – Refinery Fire One Killed, Three Injured

Romania – One killed, Three Injured Refinery Fire

Romania’s Rompetrol Rafinare Petromidia refinery is operating at reduced capacity after an explosion in its vacuum distillation plant on the night of August 22 that killed one worker and injured another three. A company spokesperson said the results of air sampling operations indicated there was no risk to staff or local communities following the incident.

The plant, on the Black Sea coast, was owned by Kazakhstan’s KazMunaiGas International (KMGI) but was seized along with other assets by Romanian prosecutors in May as part of an investigation into suspected violations related to the privatisation of the Rompetrol group.

KMGI said it would seek international arbitration against Romania over the seizure.

In Romania, KMGI operates Petromidia Navodari refinery, with a processing capacity of 5 million tons per year, Vega Ploiesti Refinery – the oldest unit of its kind in operation since 1905, but also a fuels distribution network of over 700 distribution points, 230 LPG stations, 9,000 cylinders distribution points, 3 LPG filling stations and 6 warehouses.

In April, China Energy Company Limited, CEFC, signed a memorandum of understanding to buy a 51% stake in state-owned KMGI for $680 million.