The territory of present-day

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

started producing oil in 1857; oil facilities became an important strategic military target in 1916 during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

. The

Kingdom of Romania The Kingdom of Romania ( ro, Regatul României) was a constitutional monarchy that existed in Romania from 13 March ( O.S.) / 25 March 1881 with the crowning of prince Karl of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen as King Carol I (thus beginning the Romanian ...

was the largest producer of oil in Europe during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

(with the exception of USSR whose primary oil source was in Azerbaijan), and the oil extracted from Romania was essential for Axis military operations. Allied bombers attacked the Romanian

petrochemical industry The petrochemical industry is concerned with the production and trade of petrochemicals. A major part is constituted by the plastics (polymer) industry. It directly interfaces with the petroleum industry, especially the downstream sector. Comp ...

near

Ploiești Ploiești ( , , ), formerly spelled Ploești, is a city and county seat in Prahova County, Romania. Part of the historical region of Muntenia, it is located north of Bucharest. The area of Ploiești is around , and it borders the Blejoi commun ...

heavily (see

Operation Tidal Wave Operation Tidal Wave was an air attack by bombers of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) based in Libya on nine oil refineries around Ploiești, Romania on 1 August 1943, during World War II. It was a strategic bombing mission and part o ...

) before the Soviet

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian language, Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist R ...

occupied the oilfields in August 1944. After the war, significant reconstruction and expansion took place under the communist regime. Since 1989, most of the industry has been privatized. Possessing substantial oil-refining capacities, present-day Romania has a particular interest in the Central Asia-Europe pipelines and seeks to strengthen its relations with some

Arab States of the Persian Gulf The Arab states of the Persian Gulf refers to a group of Arab states which border the Persian Gulf. There are seven member states of the Arab League in the region: Bahrain, Kuwait, Iraq, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emir ...

. With 10 refineries and an overall refining-capacity of approximately , Romania has the largest refining industry in the eastern European region. Romania's refining-capacity output far exceeds domestic demand for refined petroleum products, allowing the country to export a wide range of oil products and petrochemicals — such as lubricants, bitumen, and fertilizers — throughout the eastern European region. http://www.gasandoil.com/goc/news/nte30277.htm Romania has the largest power sector in south-eastern Europe.

Refineries

This is an incomplete list of oil refineries in

: *

Arpechim Refinery Arpechim Refinery was one of the largest Romanian refineries and one of the largest in Europe, located in Pitești, Argeș County, and had both refining and petrochemical capacities. It was closed in 2011. The refinery has two processing mod ...

, (

Petrom OMV Petrom S.A. is a Romanian integrated oil company, controlled by Austria's OMV. It is one of the largest corporations in Romania and the largest oil and gas producer in Southeast Europe. Since 2004 it is a subsidiary of OMV. History In l ...

OMV OMV (formerly abbreviation for Österreichische Mineralölverwaltung Aktiengesellschaft ('' en, Austrian Mineral Oil Administration Stock Company'')) is an Austrian multinational integrated oil, gas and petrochemical company which is headquart ...

), * Astra Refinery, ( Interagro), *

Petrobrazi Refinery Petrobrazi Refinery is one of the largest Romanian refineries and one of the largest in Eastern Europe, located in Ploieşti, Prahova County having as a main activity the processing of Romanian oil but also has a separate unit specialised in pr ...

, (

), *

Petromidia Constanţa Refinery Petromidia Refinery is the largest Romanian oil refinery and one of the largest in Eastern Europe, located in Năvodari, Constanța County. It has an annual processing capacity of 4.8 million tonnes/year or . The refinery is supplied with oil th ...

, ( Rompetrol), *

Petrotel Lukoil Refinery Petrotel Lukoil Refinery is one of the largest Romanian Oil refinery, oil refineries and one of the largest in Eastern Europe, located in Ploieşti, Prahova County. Its main activity is the processing of Romanian and Russian oil, but a separate ...

, (

LUKOIL The PJSC Lukoil Oil Company ( stylized as LUKOIL or ЛУКОЙЛ in Cyrillic script) is a Russian multinational energy corporation headquartered in Moscow, specializing in the business of extraction, production, transport, and sale of petrol ...

), * Petrolsub Suplacu de Barcău Refinery, (

), * RAFO Oneşti Refinery, (

Calder A Calder is a Scottish name and may refer to: People * Calder (surname) *Calder baronets, two baronetcies created for people with the surname Calder *Alexander Calder (1898-1976), the American sculptor known for his mobiles, son of Alexander Stirli ...

), * Steaua Romană Câmpina Refinery, ( Omnimpex Chemicals), * Vega Ploieşti Refinery, ( Rompetrol),

References

External links

Romanian Petroleum History
* www.geohelp.net/world.html * Mirbabayev Miryusif. ''Brief history of the first oil drilling wells in Baku region'' - "Noema" (Romania), 2018, v.XVII, p.175-185 * Vassiliou Marius. Historical dictionary of petroleum industry; 2nd edition - 2018, Lanham MD: Rowman and Littlefield-Scarecrow Press. p. 593 * Marius Vassiliou, Miryusif Mirbabayev. US and Azerbaijani oil in the Nineteenth Century: Two Titans. - USA, Lexington Books Publisher, 2022. - 259 p. {{Romania topics Economy of Romania

Energy in Romania Petrochemical industry Petroleum in Romania

Refineries

See also

References

External links