May 21 (SeeNews) - Romania's top oil and gas group OMV Petrom [BSE:SNP] said on Tuesday it has completed the modernization of the Arad fuel terminal following a 19 million euro ($21.2 million) investment.
"With the modernization of the Arad fuel storage, we successfully complete the optimization program for our fuel storage infrastructure. The program aimed to concentrate operations in six large-size terminals across the country and required investments of around 145 million euro over the last 12 years", OMV Petrom executive board member responsible for Downstream Oil, Radu Caprau, said in a statement.
The Arad terminal, the largest in western Romania and the second largest in the country, has a storage capacity of over 32,000 cubic meters, equivalent to over 550,000 car refuels and addresses mainly fuel demand in the counties in western Romania - Arad, Bihor, Timis and Hunedoara.
Upgrade works included the modernization of 5 large fuel storage tanks, the installation of almost 12 kilometers of new pipelines, the casting of approximately 6,500 cubic meters of concrete and modernization works for 2 kilometers of railroad serving the terminal.
The program to optimize OMV Petrom’s fuel storage infrastructure was launched in 2007. Within the program, three new terminals were built at Jilava, Brazi and Isalnita and three other terminals were modernized - in Bacau, Cluj and Arad. They have a total storage capacity of 119,000 cubic meters and cover geographically the entire territory of Romania in order to meet the country’s mobility needs.
Shares of blue-chip OMV Petrom traded 0.13% lower at 0.3805 lei as at 1208 CET on the Bucharest Stock Exchange.
OMV Petrom is the largest energy company in Southeast Europe, with an annual group hydrocarbon production of 58.3 million boe in 2018.
The company posted a 1.15 billion lei ($271 million/242 million euro) net profit in the first quarter of 2019, up 35% year-on-year.
Austria's OMV Aktiengesellschaft holds a 51.011% stake in OMV Petrom, while the Romanian energy ministry holds 20.64%. Romania's Fondul Proprietatea holds a further 9.99%, and 18.352% is in free float on the Bucharest Stock Exchange and the London Stock Exchange.
(1 euro = 4.7627 lei)