OMV successfully completes Turnaround in the Schwechat Refinery

• Petrochemicals unit of the OMV Schwechat Refinery subjected to routine safety inspections and periodic maintenance since June
• Cleaning, inspection and modernization of the petrochemical and refining plants
• High safety standards upheld during all works, as well as comprehensive information for local residents in advance

At the start of June 2023, the petrochemicals unit of the OMV Schwechat Refinery has been taken out of operation as scheduled for a regular inspection required by law every six years. The aim of this routine process – known as a Turnaround – is the thorough cleaning, inspection and maintenance of plant components as well as the modernization of the petrochemicals unit and parts of the refining unit to be able to continue to guarantee their safe and sustainable operation. This inspection has now been successfully completed and the OMV Schwechat Refinery is fully operational again. The top priority was safety and the greatest possible consideration for local residents.

The units for fuel production were already inspected in 2022. Production in this area was almost at full capacity during this year’s petrochemicals turnaround. This year’s shutdown affected the areas used for the production of intermediate products for plastics production. This area includes the ethylene and butadiene plant and the catalytic cracker.

In addition to the 900 or so employees of the OMV Schwechat Refinery, around 4,000 employees from 50 partner companies were also involved in what amounted to around 1.2 million working hours. 

Inspection work was carried out on 18 process furnaces, 121 columns/reactors, 513 heat exchangers, 684 tanks, 3,000 fittings, and 1,800 safety valves, and various repairs were carried out at around 1,140 pipeline points. In total, around 500,000 bolts were replaced on the equipment in the petrochemicals unit of the OMV Schwechat Refinery. Safety is a top priority at OMV, which is why the Schwechat Refinery invests heavily in implementing the highest safety standards.
“Thanks to the strong support of all employees and partner companies as well as the comprehensive safety measures, the planned turnaround was completed successfully. With the groundwork laid for implementing our new facilities, we have taken another step towards a more sustainable refinery business and towards the transformation of OMV,” said Martijn van Koten, OMV Executive Vice President Fuels & Feedstock. 

In addition to the maintenance and overhaul of the units, OMV also used this time to modernize the refinery in order to set the course for a more sustainable future with lower emissions. This meant that progress was made on numerous projects – such as the integration work for expanding the ReOil® recycling plant and the electrolysis unit for producing green hydrogen. Extensive implementation work for co-processing (for biofuel production) is in progress and will be finalized soon.

Background information

OMV Aktiengesellschaft

With Group sales revenues of EUR 62 bn and a workforce of around 22,300 employees in 2022, OMV is amongst Austria’s largest listed industrial companies.

In Chemicals & Materials, OMV through its subsidiary Borealis, is one of the world’s leading providers of advanced and circular polyolefin solutions and a European market leader in base chemicals and plastics recycling. Together with its two major joint ventures – Borouge (with ADNOC, in the UAE and Singapore) and Baystar™ (with TotalEnergies, in the USA) – Borealis supplies products and services to customers across the globe. OMV’s Fuels & Feedstock business produces and markets fuels as well as feedstock for the chemical industry, operates three refineries in Europe, and holds a 15% stake in a refining joint venture in the UAE. OMV operates around 1,700 filling stations in eight European countries. In the Energy segment, OMV explores and produces oil and gas in the four core regions of Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa, North Sea, and Asia-Pacific. Average daily production in 2022 amounted to 392 kboe/d. Its activities also include the Low Carbon Business as well as the entire gas business.

OMV intends to transition from an integrated oil, gas, and chemicals company to become a leading provider of innovative and sustainable fuels, chemicals, and materials, while taking a leading global role in the circular economy. By switching over to a low-carbon business, OMV is striving to achieve net zero in all three Scopes by 2050 at the latest.

OMV shares are traded on the Vienna Stock Exchange (OMV) and as American Depository Receipts (OMVKY) in the U.S.