The OMV refinery in Schwechat, which has been idle for months since an accident in June, is now back in full operation. OMV announced this on Friday. The alternative supply system, which replaced the restricted production of the Schwechat refinery during the repair, is to be maintained as an additional source of supply for as long as necessary.
On June 3, 2022, during the legally required water pressure test as part of the final work on the general overhaul of the refinery, the outer skin of the main column of the crude oil distillation plant was damaged.
- nope today: OMV refinery Schwechat is running again:
In addition to the 800-strong OMV workforce at the Schwechat site, up to 320 people from various partner companies were brought in to carry out the repairs. A total of 200 tons of steel were processed for the repair and assembled in the past 16 weeks.
The water pressure test was completed at the end of September and production was gradually put back into operation. Now the refinery is full again.
In order to ensure security of supply with fuel, the state had to step in several times and release fuel reserves. Hungary and Slovakia also released parts of their mandatory emergency reserves to compensate for the loss of production in Schwechat and to avoid supply bottlenecks. Nevertheless, suppliers complained that there was not enough diesel available, which would have pushed up prices for consumers.
The Department of Energy announced yesterday that the strategic reserve would again last 90 days as required by law by March 31, 2023 at the latest. This reserve is currently only sufficient for 65 days.
Source: Nachrichten
