Romanian oil & gas producer OMV Petrom will invest about EUR 60 million in a new unit converting liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) into gasoline.

The new unit will be built within the Petrobrazi plant and will become fully operational in early 2019.

It will allow a part of the production of LPG components of up to 50,000 tons to be converted into gasoline and middle distillates using a catalytic process. The total capacity of the refinery will remain at 4.5 million tons per year.

The new unit is based on the Polyfuel innovative process, a technology developed by French group Axens, which is known to be safe and clean, according to OMV Petrom. The project involves the construction of three main reactors, several columns and pumps. The unit is designed for high energy efficiency.

“The implementation of the Polyfuels project, which uses innovative technologies to increase gasoline and diesel production, will give us a competitive advantage through increased output of high value products (white products) and a more flexible production structure”, said Neil Anthony Morgan, OMV Petrom executive board member responsible for Downstream Oil.

After Petrom’s privatization in 2005, the investment in the Petrobrazi refinery reached EUR 1.2 billion. Of the total amount, some EUR 600 million was invested in the modernization program, which took place between 2010 and 2014.

With a refining capacity of 4.5 million tons annually, Petrobrazi can process OMV Petrom’s whole oil production in Romania.

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editor@romania-insider.com