OMV creates alternative supply system after Schwechat Refinery damage

Austrian energy major OMV has set up an alternative supply system for markets served by the OMV Schwechat Refinery, which suffered a damage to one of its crude distillation units early this month, the company said on Friday.

During the legally required water pressure test as part of the final stages of the turnaround of the refinery, damage occurred to the outer shell of one of the columns of the crude distillation unit on June 3, the company said in a statement.

In order to identify the causes of the damage, a large interdisciplinary team is working with the support of experts from the OMV Group and independent experts – but the site is difficult to access since the damage occurred in the lower section of the distillation column, OMV said.

The findings indicate that it should be possible for the refinery to restart fully operational and fully utilised in the second half of the third quarter of 2022, which is why the company has set up an alternative supply system to mitigate the impact on customers.

The alternative supply system is based on three pillars: using the capacities of the refinery network within the group; short-term adjustments to increase existing production capacities in the refinery; as well as close cooperation with partners to make up for the missing volumes, OMV said.

“Dismantling works, preparatory works, ordering materials, and prefabrication for repairs began immediately after the incident. The distillation capacity of a smaller crude distillation unit available has been maximised and now covers about 20% of the previous capacity,” said Michael Sattler, Senior Vice President Value Chain Optimisation and Head of the Task Force at OMV.

“Thanks to the support and flexibility of our customers, alternative supplies have been secured – logistical challenges do have to be overcome. We have a clear plan, we are making good progress and will work with the new supply system for as long as it takes,” he added.

In addition, the release of fuel reserves was a sensible measure to safeguard supply until the new supply system is fully up and running, the company said.