Kazakhstan, Astana, Jan.19 / Trend A. Maratov /
Romania is studying the possibility of implementing the Constanta-Trieste Pipeline by using existing infrastructure, Rompetrol General Director Sadvakas Meraliyev said in an interview with Trend this week.
"Now, as far as I know, Romania is reviewing the project," Meraliyev said.
He added that the pipeline's goal - as with the Burga-Alexandroupoli and Samsun-Ceyhan pipelines - is to reach the Mediterranean Sea while bypassing the Bosporus, the Marmara Sea and the Dardanelles.
"However, the idea of Constanta-Trieste is somewhat broader - not just to bypass the two narrow straits, but also to deliver oil to a number of oil refineries located in the Balkans on the way," Meraliyev said.
He recalled that a similar variant was also considered by the Turkish authorities, noting the Samsun-Ceyhan oil pipeline.
According to general director, Romania is in active talks on the partial implementation of the Constanta-Trieste project.
"There is a proposal to extend the pipeline from the Constanta Port to Pancheva partly using old infrastructure," he said.
"The Constanta-Trieste oil pipeline should originate at the Navadari Port, where our oil terminal is located, which was built last year, and is capable of accepting tankers with a large handling capacity," he said. "Besides, we have a tank farm, and the joining scheme in the national network, as well as great spending cuts."
According to Meraliyev, if Romania and other European countries decide to participate in the Constanta-Trieste Pipeline, then they will be able to save about $200-300 million on the costs on building such port infrastructure.
The Rompetrol Group NV is 100-percent subsidiary of KMG.
Rompetrol is a large holding company. Most of its operations and assets are located in France, Romania, Spain, and southeastern Europe. The group is active primarily in refining and marketing/downstream, with additional operations in exploration, production and other services for the oil industry. It owns two oil refineries (Petromidia and Vega) and some 630 gas stations in Europe (Romania, France, Spain, Moldova, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Albania, and Georgia).
The company owns a 25-percent share of petroleum product retail sales market in Romania, a 3.5-percent share of the market in France and a 1.5-percent stake of the market in Spain. Rompetrol works in 13 countries in service and trading.