Diesel regionally scarce – Mysterious OMV accident already costs € 240 million

The fact that the large diesel distillation plant in the Schwechat refinery was heavily damaged during maintenance work on 3 June has far-reaching consequences. Since then, instead of 200,000 barrels of oil per day, OMV has only been able to process a fifth of that, making diesel fuel temporarily scarce, especially in eastern Austria. In addition, for the first time in a long time, drivers have to pay more for it than for premium petrol at the pumps.

Repair progressing slower than expected
The mysterious incident is also expensive for OMV. CEO Alfred Stern initially estimated the direct damage to the company at 200 million euros, but most recently even at 240 million euros. There are also costs that are covered by insurance. The repairs are progressing more slowly than expected. After the initially mentioned weeks, the plant will not be able to produce fully until mid-October. In the meantime, therefore, an “emergency program” was running.

In some cases, OMV was able to divert extra diesel from its other refineries in Bavaria and Romania to us. In addition, purchases were made on the open market throughout Europe. Little is known, however, that even Hungary made some of its reserves available. 18 million liters of petrol and 29 million liters of diesel poured into our filling stations to bridge the gap. These quantities must be back to Hungary before the end of the year.

And the Austrian government also helped: in June, 168,000 tons of fuel were released from the state oil reserve. 145,000 tons followed in July and 60,000 tons in September. The reserve thus covers our oil needs for 65 days instead of 90 days.