OMV Petrom S.A. (Bucharest, Romania) is investing approximately EUR 130 million in the next 3 years to build a new production unit for aromatic products at the Petrobrazi refinery in Romania. The unit will function at modern BAT (Best Available Technology) operating standards with low environmental impact. The processing capacity of the new unit is about 1,500 metric tons (m.t.) per day of reformed gasoline.
Radu Căprău, member of the OMV Petrom Executive Board responsible for the Refining and Marketing activity: “The demand for gasoline continues to be robust in Southeastern Europe. In parallel with the development of our offer for alternative mobility products, we want to provide our customers with the products they need, at high environmental standards. Other significant investments will follow at Petrobrazi, both in the technological efficiency of the refinery as well as in the production of second-generation biofuels.”
The process of replacing the existing aromatic products unit will be carried out between 2023 and 2025. The aromatic products unit currently functioning at Petrobrazi Refinery was put into production in 1961. This is the only facility within a Romanian refinery that can ensure gasoline at European standards.
The new unit of aromatic products will be put into operation in 2026. It will ensure continuity of production of gasoline with a volumetric benzene content of less than 1%, according to current European standards. At the same time, a larger amount of toluene will be possible to be obtained from the process of gasoline production. Toluene can be used to obtain commercial gasoline with improved octane number, but it can also be used as a solvent in the chemical industry to obtain paints, adhesives or in processes of obtaining leather products.
The Petrobrazi refinery has a total crude oil processing capacity of 4.5 million tons per year. Since 2005, OMV Petrom has invested over EUR 1.8 billion in the refinery, with a third of this investment contributing to reducing the environmental impact.