HELLENIC PETROLEUM Group today is Greece's largest industrial and commercial corporation. It employs about 3,710 people at home and 2,096 abroad, its total assets at end 2003 were worth €3,105.1 million and its equity capital amounted to €1,869 million; turnover in 2003 totalled €4,671.3 million.
The group is a fully integrated oil enterprise, whose range of activities includes:
Procurement/refining of crude oil and marketing of petroleum products
Production and marketing of petrochemicals and chemicals
Hydrocarbon exploration and production
Construction and operation of hydrocarbon transportation pipelines
Production, marketing and exploitation of all other forms of energy
A 35% holding in the Public Gas Corporation (DEPA) which imports and distributes natural gas in Greece.
Consulting services for engineering projects related to the production of hydrocarbons.
The integrated operational scheme involving the two Thessaloniki and Aspropyrgos refineries and the chemical/petrochemical complex in Thessaloniki enhances efficiency as well as profit margins. The OKTA refinery in Skopje was integrated to this scheme in 1999 and was linked by pipeline with the industrial installations in Thessaloniki in July 2002. The Elefsina refinery (former PETROLA) was integrated into this unified scheme on September 30, 2003, and is linked by pipeline with Aspropyrgos refinery and the installations at Pachi Megaron.
Efficiency is further enhanced by the group's integrated management structure, which, as mentioned above, encompasses all subsidiaries and affiliates except DEPA and VPI.
As a result of the 2000 share capital increase in 2000 and satisfactory profitability in recent years, HELLENIC PETROLEUM has consolidated its financial strength, as shown by the relevant financial indicators, and is in a position to raise without difficulty the capital required to complement the financing of investment plans in coming years. The group's investment plan includes projects mainly in the refining sector, power production, hydrocarbon exploration and in expanding activities abroad, with priority in southeast Europe, especially in the Balkans.
