Cold weather brings Romanian plants to halt
BUCHAREST (SeeNews) – Three of Romania’s top chemical plants had to cut or halt production as natural gas was redirected to household consumers due to the cold weather in the country, the companies said yesterday. Chemical fertilizer maker Azomures and smaller rival Amonil said they cut gas consumption to a minimum, which led to a halt in production at Amonil and to a big cut in production at Azomures for an undetermined period. Both plants were using only minimum quantities of gas to keep their facilities from freezing, they said in separate statements. Romania’s biggest oil and gas company Petrom also said it temporarily closed its chemical plant Doljchim to cut gas consumption. Petrom also stated it would raise its own production of gas, which together with Doljchim’s shutdown, would secure 3 million cubic meters of additional gas supply to households daily. State-owned gas company Romgaz has also raised daily gas production by 10 percent.
