A million barrels of Iraqi oil were delivered Friday to a reopened Dutch-Romanian refinery in this southeastern town, sources said.
The Iraqi delivery,worth 27 million euros ($25 million ), fell within the framework of the UN-supervised oil-for-food program that allows Iraq to export oil in order to meet basic needs, refinery officials said.
It allowed the biggest Romanian refinery to resume operations after being shut down for several years.
The Dutch-Romanian oil firm Rompetrol Group BV Rotterdam bought a 69.9 percent stake in the Romanian oil refinery in early November for $50.5 million.
Built in 1975 by the communist regime of late dictator Nicolae Ceaucescu to refine Iranian oil, the Petromedia refinery has a capacity of 280,000 tones per month and could employ up to 3,500 workers.
It had been on the verge of bankruptcy following two failed privatisation attempts. As part of the takeover, Rompetrol committed itself to investing $205 million over five years to upgrade equipment, and promised to spend $20 million for environmental protection
The group also took on $340 million of Petromedia debt. Iran is also interested in resuming cooperation with the refinery, and its oil minister is expected to visit this month for talks, diplomatic sources said.—AFP.
©--Agence France Presse 2001.
© 2001 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
