Refining sustainable growth INA Group

REFINING SUSTAINABLE GROWTH

The INA Group is a significant European oil and gas producer with a leading position in Croatia and neighbouring countries. Philip Yorke examines the benefits to the region of the company’s major investments in new plant, which have been designed to improve production efficiency and the sustainability of its refining processes.

The Rijeka oil refinery in Croatia began its operations in 1883 with an annual refining capacity of 60,000 tonnes. The same year the company constructed a deep water petroleum harbour, which was able to meet one third of all the oil products demanded by the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Over the years, continuous construction and upgrading resulted in a technological peak being reached in the mid 1980s when the refining capacity rose to 6.7 million tonnes.

Today INA d.d. is a joint stock company owned by the Hungarian Oil Company MOL (47.26 per cent, the republic of Croatia (44.84 per cent) and private and institutional shareholders (7.9 per cent). Since 2006 INA shares have been listed on the London and Zagreb stock exchanges. Over 16,000 people are employed by the INA Group with a further 10,000 employed by INA d.d., which was established on 1 January 1964 when the Naftaplin Oil & Gas Exploration and Production Company, merged with the oil refineries in Rijeka and Sisak in Croatia.

Meeting highest EU standards

INA has two refineries in Croatia, located in Rijeka and Sisak. The refinery in Rijeka is located onshore, allowing access to the port for deep drawing vessels and the pipeline system of JANAF. The refinery’s advantageous location makes it suitable for market supply not only to Croatia but also to southern parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia, Montenegro and other Mediterranean countries. The Rijeka refinery processes around 3 million tonnes of oil annually and manufactures a number of key petroleum products for its domestic and foreign markets.

INA’s commitment to its modernisation programme has meant that the upgraded plants not only meet the highest EU standards but also protect the environment and significantly improve the sustainability of the company’s refining business. The current production programme of INA’s refineries includes liquefied gas, virgin naptha, motor gasoline, kerosene, aviation turbine fuels, fuel oil, bunkers and liquid sulphur.

The refinery at Sisak is 50 kilometres from Zagreb, which has the highest consumption of petroleum products in the country. This refinery’s location makes it convenient for

the supply of petroleum products to Croatia as well as North Western Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Eastern Slovenia and Western and Northern Serbia. The Sisak refinery processes domestic petroleum produced by INA in addition to Russian oil imported through the oil pipelines ‘Druzba 1 & 2’ . Petroleum spirit can also be supplied from the Mediterranean Sea by the oil pipelines of JANAF. The refinery has nine oil storage tanks with a total storage capacity of 365,000 tonnes and processes more than 2 million tonnes of oil every year.

High purity hydrogen on tap

The completion of the first phase of a major modernisation programme was celebrated recently at INA’s Rijeka refinery, when a special ceremony was held to commemrate the commissioning of the first phase of the plant, which cost close to €400 million. The ceremony was attended by Croatia’s prime minister, Ms Jadranka Kosor, the deputy prime minister as well as state secretaries and other distinguished guests.

The Rijeka plant’s first phase modernisation programme includes three facilities within a hydrocracking complex, as well as other supporting facilities and installations. The main facilities include a mild hydrocracking and hydrogen unit as well as a desulpherisation plant. The strategic goal is to increase the overall efficiency levels and ensure sustainable development through ecologically acceptable processes. In addition, the investment in modernisation will help strengthen INA’s position in its existing markets and those on its doorstep. Through the hydrocracking of heavy hydro- carbons the company will achieve lighter products, and by the hydro-desulpherisation of these lighter products, Euro V fuels will be produced.

The plant’s hydrogen unit is designed for supplying high purity hydrogen and, in addition, the plant also produces high pressure steam that is used for the generation of electricity. This re-modernised plant is now able to isolate at least 98.8 per cent of the sulphur present in the total input.

Zoltan Aldot, the President of the management board of INA said, ”Our key tasks will remain the improvement of business efficiency, development of our local and foreign capacities in exploration and production, further modernisation of refineries and revitalisation of our petrol stations network. Our goal is to make INA the leading oil company in South Eastern Europe.”

Aldot also said that it was important for INA to continue the investment cycle, as it was the only way to make the company prosperous in the long term.

Growth in retail sector

INA has a long established reputation in the retail sector with around 500 petrol stations located in Croatia and neighbouring countries; Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia and Montenegro. INA is the clear brand leader in Croatia and its strong visual identity makes it a dominant and recognisable brand at the point of purchase. The demand for petroleum products has continued to grow in Croatia and as a result, INA has invested heavily in its retail network, which is constantly expanding with the construction of new, state-ofthe-art petrol stations. The latest sites are primarily to be found along Croatia’s newly built motorways. The company is also investing in the reconstruction and upgrading of existing, well located sites and the expansion of their retail product mix. n

Galil Engineering Ltd

The new 6000 bpsd capacity Isomerization unit built by Galil Engineering Ltd. on lump sum turn key EPC basis. Galil utilized process simulation program in their design, developed 3D piping model and applied Delta V programming. Local contraction companies on all engineering disciplines were hired by them. Detail engineering executed at Galil’s home office and approved by INA technical team. Galil Engineering Ltd. is a multidiscipline engineering company providing EPC and EPCM services to various industries. They utilize modern engineering tools in their design activities. They can handle projects from conceptual design to startup applying QA/QC and HES strategies in order to fulfill customers requirement, they are also ISO 9001 certified. With their experienced engineering and management team they are active in Oil and Gas, Power, Renewable energy, Water and WWT plants design and execution. The companies policy “One team- One Goal”, applied in INA’s Isomerization project with remarkable client-contractor relation. Our project was on time and on budget. While Galil do not represent any equipment supplier, they selected the best and most suitable equipment and systems for our project, we have seen this as an advantage along the project. Their project execution team issued the required reports on time and we were informed on continuous basis about the project status.