Arpechim Refinery - History

History

Arpechim was founded in 1964 in a strategic industrial zone located in Southern Romania near Piteşti. In the same year the refinery built its first plant specialised in the production of carbon black. In 1967 another two distinct units were established, the Piteşti Refinery and the Petrochemical Complex (Romanian: Rafinăria Piteşti şi Complexul petrochimic) and the Thermal Power Station (Romanian: Centrala de energie termică). In 1971 the refinery was integrated with the Petrochemical Complex. In 1997 the state established Petrom as the national oil company also including the Arpechim Refinery. In 1999 Arpechim becomes the first refinery in Europe to produce and export diesel with a reduced sulfur content. In 2005 the refinery concludes the building of a new gasoil hydrotreater and new hydrogen plant.

In 2007, Petrom started negotiations with Oltchim (a major petrochemical company in Romania) for the sale of the petrochemical sector from the Arpechim Refinery. The two companies agreed on the transaction and Oltchim had to pay around US$ 150 million to close the deal. On February 17, 2009, Petrom decided to sell the petrochemical sector of the Arpechim Refinery to Oltchim for the price of 1 euro (US$ 1.25), but the buying company has to invest US$ 140 million in the sector due to contract clauses.