Romanian oil company Rompetrol Rafinare, a member of the Rompetrol Group, recorded a net loss of USD 86.1 million in the first nine months of the year, down by a quarter from USD 114.9 million reported in the same period of 2012, according to the company’s recent results.

In the third quarter of the year, Rompetrol Rafinare’s consolidated turnover went up 25 percent year-on-year to USD 1.44 billion, while the nine-month turnover maintained a similar level to the same period the previous year, of USD 3.41 billion.

One of the main causes that triggered the improvement of the company’s consolidated financial results was "the increase in the usability of Petromidia refinery at 92.90 percent, an increase by 13.46 percentage points as compared to the same period last year,” reads the company’s statement.

Rompetrol Rafinare contributed USD 997 million to the state budget in the first nine months of the year.

On the refining segment, the company recorded a gross turnover of some USD 3 billion in the period between January-September, a year-on-year decrease of 5 percent, “mainly due to a decrease of international prices of petroleum products and a production outage of Petromidia refinery during March-April 2013”.

Rompetrol Rafinare’s losses on this segment also went down to USD 78.3 million in the first nine months of the year, compared to USD 88.5 million recorded in the same period of 2012.

The gross turnover of the company’s distribution segment was USD 2.1 billion between January-September, up 8 percent against the same period the previous year.

“The increase of wholesales by 23 percent in the first nine months of 2013 as compared to the same period of 2012, the optimization of sales channels and the reduction of costs have conducted to the final results,” according to the company.

At the end of September, the distribution segment of Rompetrol Downstream comprised 754 stations.

On the petrochemical segment, the Romanian company recorded a gross turnover of USD 171.4 million in the first nine months, down 4 percent year-on-year, “due to the planned outage of Petromidia refinery during March-April that impacted the financial results of the company”.

The company halved its net loss from USD 16.19 million in the first nine months of last year, to USD 8.57 million this year.

Rompetrol Petrochemicals has an annual production capacity of more than 200,000 tonnes of polymers.

Rompetrol Rafinare is a member of the Rompetrol group, handling refining of crude oil and distribution of petroleum products, as well as petrochemical production.

In the first half of the year, the company’s consolidated net loss went down 40 percent, to USD 78.4 million. In the same period of 2012, the company’s loss amounted to USD 131.8 million.

Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com