In the first quarter of 2025, the production level of the Vega Ploiești Refinery was increasing, with a total of about 75,000 tons of raw materials processed, 23% more than in the same period last year.

For 2025, Rompetrol Rafinare has set itself the goal of processing volumes at Vega increasing by about 25%, reaching 400,000 tons, and bitumen sales are estimated at 86,000 tons, approximately 15% higher than the previous year, as are hexane sales, which are estimated to reach almost 100,000 tons.

Vega Ploiești, the only Romanian producer of bitumen and hexane, reaches, this year, the milestone of 120 years of existence and uninterrupted activity in the oil industry. Founded at a time when oil processing was a novelty worldwide, Vega is one of the exponents of the refining industry in Romania.

“The Vega Refinery is a concrete example of adaptation and professionalism. From the Edeleanu method, developed in the laboratories of Ploiești and later extended to 70-80 refineries around the world, to the transition to modern technologies and products vital to supporting the national economy. Currently, we are the only producers of bitumen and hexane in Romania, and thus we position ourselves as a special, atypical refinery, but with a well-defined strategic role domestically and regionally. Vega has been and continues to be a pillar of stability for many partners, also having an important role in the evolution of the Romanian oil industry, with a tradition of approximately 170 years”, said Florian Pop, General Manager of Rompetrol Rafinare.

With an annual production capacity of approximately 400,000 tons, Vega Ploiești brings added value to the market by developing niche oil products.

Since 2004, Vega no longer processes crude oil and no longer produces automotive fuels, being in perfect synergy with Petromidia – Năvodari, which supplies it with the raw material necessary for its operational flow.

Vega is the only producer and one of the largest in Europe in terms of hexane. This special solvent of the refinery fully covers Romania’s domestic demand, but also ensures a high degree of the needs of other European Union member states. Hexane is used in various industries, such as petrochemicals, pharmaceuticals, and in the food industry it is successfully used as an extraction agent.

At the same time, the refinery produces road bitumen, ensuring about 20% of Romania’s domestic needs, the entire production being directed to the domestic market. The refinery can also produce polymer-modified bitumen, which stands out for its high resistance to wear and temperature variations, increased elasticity that can double its lifespan.

In addition to these, other products such as solvents (white spirit), chemical gasolines (naphtha and light naphtha), heating fuels (heat and light liquid fuel).

The Vega refinery is operated by Rompetrol Rafinare, the company that also manages Petromidia Năvodari, the largest refinery in Romania.

The significant shareholders of Rompetrol Rafinare are KMG International (54.63% – directly and indirectly) and the Romanian State, through the Ministry of Energy (44.7%).

Brief history – Vega, one of the vectors of the refining industry in Romania

Romania is internationally recognized as the first country in the world with an official production of crude oil, registered in 1857, the year in which our country produced 275 tons. It was followed, on this path, by countries such as the United States of America (1859), Italy (1860) and Canada (1862).

Ploiești and the surrounding areas were and are reference points for the industry, the first refinery being built in Râfov, starting in 1856. Subsequently, the development of the segment was constant, until the beginning of the 20th century, when large refineries began to appear.

In 1904, “Disconto Gesellschaft” (one of the preferential banks of the Romanian state at that time) together with French investors announced the intention to build a refinery in the northern part of the city of Ploiești. A year later, the Vega refinery was established, with Titu Maiorescu as vice president of the board of directors.

In 1908, Lazar Edeleanu paved the way for quality petroleum products by developing the method that bears his name. The “Edeleanu” process was developed in a laboratory in Vega and involved the selective extraction and refining of aromatic hydrocarbons.

Further development brought Vega to 2nd place in 1919, in terms of production capacity, out of a total of 46 refineries in existence at the time. Then, during World War II, the refinery was affected by bombings (1941, 1943 and 1944).

After the fall of the communist regime, during which Vega operated integrated with all the refineries in the country, the Ploiești unit was close to collapse, being saved by the takeover by Rompetrol in 1999.

The 2000s are characterized by massive investments, which led to the emergence of new installations – dearomatized and polymer-modified bitumen. Since 2007, after the transition to new ownership (KazMunayGas), Vega has been caught up in a program of extensive modernization – the hexane, bitumen, vacuum distillation installations are refurbished and improved, and in 2018 the refinery exceeds, for the first time since 1989, the threshold of 400,000 tons of processed raw materials.