Rijeka, April 16, 2024 – Upon the completion of the regular turnaround and eight projects aimed mainly at increasing energy efficiency, the fuel production at the Rijeka Refinery was gradually restarted. This investment cycle worth more than EUR 100 million puts the Rijeka Refinery a step closer to completing its transformation into a modern European refinery, which is one of INA’s key strategic goals.
During this EUR 40 million turnaround, a number of activities were completed, such as cleaning and inspecting more than 800 pieces of equipment throughout the refinery and replacing about 40 pieces of the most critical equipment. The turnaround was necessary and planned for several reasons – primarily due to legal obligations, as the last regular turnaround was done in 2019. Another important reason were the works that will enable continuous operation of the refinery in the upcoming period, which will further contribute to the security of market supply.
During the turnaround, eight investment projects worth more than EUR 60 million were simultaneously implemented, which will ensure stable and efficient operation of the refinery in the future. The most important investment projects – the upgrade of the atmospheric distillation unit and the replacement of four existing condensing turbines with electric motors and equipped frequency drive system – have improved the energy efficiency of the refinery, but also reduced CO2 emissions. After the implementation of all eight projects and the turnaround, the Rijeka Refinery has become more energy efficient, but also more sustainable.
“Thanks to timely planned activities, INA has provided sufficient quantities of petroleum products from the Mediterranean market during the entire refinery downtime. Consequently, our customers have not experienced fuel shortages. We are proud that we have successfully implemented this investment cycle, worth over EUR 100 million, and this way we came one step closer to achieving one of our key strategic goals – the transformation of the Rijeka Refinery into a modern European refinery. In the upcoming months we will process in our refinery all the domestic crude oil that was produced during the turnaround. As the next planned turnaround will take place in five years time, during that period all the crude oil produced in Croatia is planned to be processed at the Rijeka Refinery,” said Goran Pleše, Operating Director of Refining and Marketing.
INA Group plays a leading role in oil operations in Croatia and an important role in the region in oil and gas exploration and production, oil refining and distribution of oil and petroleum products. The company comprises several subsidiaries fully or partial owned by INA, d.d. The Group’s seat is in Zagreb, Croatia. INA has upstream operations in Croatia and Egypt. Oil refining takes place at the Rijeka Oil Refinery, while sustainable alternative businesses are being developed at the Sisak industrial site. INA’s regional retail network consists of more than 500 retail outlets in Croatia and neighbouring countries. INA Group is a member of MOL Group.
PR
Avenija Većeslava Holjevca 10, Zagreb
Phone: 01 6450 552| @: pr@ina.hr