B -- PETROMIDIA AUTOMATED IN-LINE BLENDING SYSTEM

Notice Date

October 23, 2001

Contracting Office

USTDA, 1621 N. Kent Street, Suite 200, Arlington, VA 22209-2131

ZIP Code

22209-2131

Response Due

November 30, 2001

Point of Contact

POC -- Evangela Kunene, USTDA, 1621 N. Kent Street, Suite 200, Arlington, VA 22209-2131, Tel: (703) 875-4357, Fax: (703) 875-4009

Description

The Grantee invites submission of qualifications and proposal data (collectively referred to as the "Proposal") from interested U.S. firms which are qualified on the basis of experience and capability to develop a feasibility study to examine the installation of an automated in-line blending system for crude oil at Rompetrol's Petromidia Refinery, located near Constantza, Romania. Founded in 1974, Rompetrol S.A. (Rompetrol) is today the international arm of the Romanian oil and gas industry with nearly 30 years of experience in providing equipment, labor, and services to the global oil and gas industry. Rompetrol has substantial upstream, downstream and refining assets, which are principally located in Romania. The original state-owned entity was privatized in 1994 to become the largest private company in the oil and gas field in Romania. In February 2001, The Rompetrol Group acquired the Petromidia Refinery and petrochemical plant. Petromidia is Romania's largest and most modern refinery. Designed and built from 1975-1977 and modernized in the early 1990s, Petromidia processes a wide variety of crude oils, from low to medium sulphur content. At this time, the Petromidia refinery must develop long-term strategic plans for ensuring growth and for improving its financial performance. Currently, the refinery requires rehabilitation of the primary refinery processes and needs to upgrade product quality to the EURO 3 standards in order to comply with European Union specifications. In order to bring its blending operation into compliance with the new EURO 3 standards for gasoline, Petromidia wants to convert its current manual blending operations to an automated in-line system. An automated system would more efficiently utilize blending components, improve quality, reduce storage tank requirements and achieve cost-saving. To examine these goals, a comprehensive feasibility study is needed to consider all options for conversion to an in-line blending operation. The feasibility study would review and analyze blending operations in detail and make recommendations for equipment and technological upgrades, changes in operational practice, whether or not the current equipment can be recycled, and other important items to enhance the profitability of the refinery. The U.S. firm selected will be paid in U.S. dollars from a $63,136 grant to the Grantee from the U.S. Trade and Development Agency (TDA). A detailed Request for Proposals (RFP), which includes requirements for the Proposal, the Terms of Reference, and a background definitional mission/desk study report are available from TDA, at 1621 N. Kent Street, Suite 200, Arlington, VA 22209-2131. Requests for the RFP should be faxed to the IRC, TDA at 703-875-4009. In the fax, please include your firm's name, contact person, address, and telephone number. Some firms have found that RFP materials sent by U.S. mail do not reach them in time for preparation of an adequate response. Firms that want TDA to use an overnight delivery service should include the name of the delivery service and your firm's account number in the request for the RFP. Firms that want to send a courier to TDA to retrieve the RFP should allow one hour after faxing the request to TDA before scheduling a pick-up. Please note that no telephone requests for the RFP will be honored. Please check your internal fax verification receipt. Because of the large number of RFP requests, TDA cannot respond to requests for fax verification. Requests for RFPs received before 4:00 PM will be mailed the same day. Requests received after 4:00 PM will be mailed the following day. Please check with your courier and/or mail room before calling TDA. Only U.S. firms and individuals may bid on this TDA financed activity. Interested firms, their subcontractors and employees of all participants must qualify under TDA's nationality requirements as of the due date for submission of qualifications and proposals and, if selected to carry out the TDA-financed activity, must continue to meet such requirements throughout the duration of the TDA-financed activity. All goods and services to be provided by the selected firm shall have their nationality, source and origin in the U.S. or host country. The U.S. firm may use subcontractors from the host country for up to 20 percent of the TDA grant amount. Details of TDA's nationality requirements and mandatory contract clauses are also included in the RFP. Interested U.S. firms should submit their Proposal in English directly to the Grantee by 4:00 pm (local time), November 30, 2001, at the above address. Evaluation criteria for the Proposal are included in the RFP. Price will not be a factor in contractor selection, and therefore, cost proposals should NOT be submitted. The Grantee reserves the right to reject any and/or all Proposals. The Grantee also reserves the right to contract with the selected firm for subsequent work related to the project. The Grantee is not bound to pay for any costs associated with the preparation and submission of Proposals.

Record

Loren Data Corp. 20011025/BSOL002.HTM (W-296 SN511372)