OMV Petrom Turns Arpechim Refinery Into Oil Products Terminal

05.11.2011 By Andrei Circhelan

Romanian oil company OMV Petrom (SNP.RO) will permanently shut down the Arpechim refinery over the next several months, turning it into a storage unit for crude and oil products, the company said in its quarterly financial report Wednesday.

"In line with the Supervisory Board decision, Arpechim refinery will be permanently closed. Over the next months, we will take the necessary steps in order to implement the permanent closure of the refinery and prepare the site as a crude and fuel terminal," the company said.

The Petrom board decided in March to permanently shut down the Arpechim refinery, since there were no "credible" buyers found.

The Arpechim refinery has a nominal capacity of 3.5 million tons per year. In January 2010, Petrom sold Arpechim's petrochemical operations to Romanian state-run chemical company Oltchim (OLT.

The company is 51.01% owned by Austrian group OMV, while the Economy Ministry holds a 20.64% stake. Fondul Proprietatea (FP.RO) holds 20.11%, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development holds 2.03% and 6.21% of stock is free float.

Wednesday morning, Petrom shares were up 0.1% at RON0.416 in Bucharest. (EUR1=RON4.0885)