Rompetrol Plans to Bring Romanian Cogeneration Plant Online in 2017

Oil and gas group Rompetrol said on Thursday the $130 million (96 million euro) cogeneration plant it is building in Romania will be operational in 2017.

"The feasibility study has already been completed. The plant's design and construction will follow," a company official told SeeNews by phone.

The plant will have a 73 megawatt (MW) electricity capacity and 136 MW thermal power capacity.

In January, financial daily Ziarul Financiar reported that Rompetrol plans to invest $350 million in the next three years in Romania in a cogeneration plant and new filling stations, as part of a memorandum signed with the government in Bucharest.

Under the memorandum Rompetrol Group, owned by Kazakhstan's KazMunayGaz, will purchase a 26.6959% stake in Rompetrol Rafinare from the Romanian state for $200 million in cash with $175 million representing the price of the shares, and another $25 million representing the agreed premium for the absolute voting majority to be acquired by Rompetrol Group. As a result, Romania's interest in the company will be reduced to 18%, which cannot by transferred, nor diluted in the next three years.

Rompetrol Rafinare, the refining unit of the group, operates two refineries - Petromidia and a smaller one, Vega.

Source: SeeNews