Petrom Completed Clean-Up of Dambovnic River

• Clean-up operations started immediately after the incident at Suseni
• Quality of water downstream restored in only a few days

Arpechim refinery, one of the two crude refining units of Petrom, finished the clean-up operations of the Dâmbovnic river. The water samples collected by Arpechim, local representatives of the Water Direction and an independent lab confirm the quality of the water downstream.
Jeffrey Rinker, member of the Managing Committee of Petrom responsible for Refining: “We made all possible efforts to minimize the Suseni incident effects and to make sure that no permanent damage was caused to the environment. Around 270 persons coordinated by an Arpechim team cleaned the shore and the base of the Dâmbovnic river so that, in only eight days, we managed to restore the quality of the water.”

The cleaning operations of the Dâmbovnic river started immediately after the incident at Suseni occurred, a treated wastewater storage pond of Arpechim. Following a breach in the weir, sediment and mud containing a small amount of oil residue were release from the wastewater storage pond.

Shortly after the incident, barrages were built on the Dâmbovnic river, a water quality monitoring system was started and a specialized company in oil spills treatment was contracted.

Four vacuum devices worked every day for absorbing the mud from the barrages installed and four bulldozers and 10 trucks transported the collected material.
Along the river down to the city of Gratia, barrages were built and 15,000 kg of absorbent biodegradable materials were placed for the removal of oil residues. The cleaning operations took place on a length of approximately 35 km, along the Dâmbovnic River, between Suseni and Slobozia.

Only a few days after the incident occurred, the analyses made at Suseni, Negrasi and Slobozia indicated that the downstream water quality returned to normal levels.

Background Information
Petrom SA
Petrom is the largest Romanian oil and gas group, with activities in the business segments of Exploration and Production, Refining and Petrochemicals, Natural Gas, as well as Sales and Marketing. Petrom exploits estimated oil and gas reserves of 1 billion boe, has an annual refining capacity of 8 million metric tons and holds 593 filling stations in Romania. The company also has an international network of 211 filling stations located in Moldova, Bulgaria and Serbia. In 2006 the turnover of Petrom was EUR 3,709 million, EBITDA was EUR 1,020 million. Following the share capital increase OMV, the leading oil and gas group in Central Europe holds a 51,011% share in Petrom. OMV is active in 13 Central European countries in its Refining and Marketing business segment and in 19 countries on five continents in Exploration and Production, Gas and Petrochemicals in 27 countries on 5 continents. The Romanian state holds 30.862% of Petrom shares, Property Fund SA holds 9,887%, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, 2.026% and 6.214% are owned by minority shareholders.