22-04-2018

OMV Schwechat refinery turns 60

On April 22, 1958, the cornerstone was laid for the reconstruction of the OMV Schwechat Refinery after World War II. Since then the refinery has established itself as one of the region’s most important employers, an intrinsic economic factor, and an indispensible pillar of the Austrian energy industry. OMV Executive Board Member for Downstream, Manfred Leitner: “As Austria’s largest industrial company, we are proud to operate the Schwechat Refinery. It stands for the most stringent standards relating to safety, the environment and production, as well as for its optimum market proximity and petrochemicals integration.”

The basis for petrochemicals integration was secured as far back as 1969, when the first ethylene unit was installed on site. This was one of many strategic decisions that have paid off and turned the Schwechat Refinery into one of the most competitive refineries in Europe. Since expanding the ethylene unit in 2005 and initiating the cooperation with Borealis in 2006, the site is now among Europe’s largest for plastics production.

The success of the Schwechat Refinery lies in its optimal product quality, continuous advances in production and processing, and high safety and environmental standards. In order to maintain this successful path in the future, the Schwechat Refinery is involved in ongoing, forward-looking innovation projects, for example with the co-processing and ReOil Projects.

In co-processing biogenic components are processed together with crude-based fossil fuels in an existing hydrogenation unit in the refinery. This core technology can play a significant part in making fuels more sustainable at the same time as producing higher quality fuels. The ReOil project involves testing a method for converting post-consumer plastics into synthetic crude oil. This synthetic crude can then, without any further effort, be processed in the refinery into fuel or raw material for the plastics industry.

By 2025 cumulative investment of up to 1 billion euros will have been made in the Schwechat, Burghausen and Petrobrazi refineries in light of the declining demand for fuel and growing need for petrochemicals. This will facilitate the production of greater amounts and higher quality petrochemical products as well as aviation fuels and will also strengthen its competitive position in Europe. In order to safeguard sales and profitability in Europe, by 2025 more than half of the refineries' production should be sold via reliable, proprietary sales channels.