Disruption in operations at OMV Schwechat, located near Vienna.
In an unexpected turn of events, Austria's sole refinery in Schwechat near Vienna experienced a production disruption at its petrochemical plant on Tuesday morning. According to OMV, the operator of the refinery, the disruption did not affect fuel production.
As a precautionary measure, the flaring process was initiated in accordance with safety precautions. The relevant authorities, including the industrial park Schwechat fire brigade, the district administrative authority Bruck an der Leitha, and the city of Schwechat, were notified as part of the safety measures.
The statement regarding the efforts to restart the petrochemical plant was made by OMV on Tuesday evening in response to an APA query. The company confirmed that all OMV safety measures, including the visible flaring process, were carried out in accordance with the applicable safety guidelines and regulations.
The disruption in petrochemical plant production is still the main focus of efforts to restart the petrochemical plant. The production of all fuels at the Schwechat refinery remains unaffected, according to OMV.
Investigations are ongoing to identify the cause of the production disruption. No new information about any potential cause has been provided as of yet. The disruption in the production of petrochemical basics, ethylene, and propylene remains unchanged.
It's important to note that while the disruption occurred, there is no direct recent information in the search results specifically reporting a disruption at Austria's sole refinery in Schwechat affecting petrochemical production such as ethylene and propylene output as of August 2025. Instead, the results highlight ongoing developments at the Schwechat refinery mostly related to biofuels and green hydrogen projects, with no mention of operational disruptions causing production losses or interruptions.
The refinery is currently focusing on producing biofuels to reduce CO2 emissions, and investments in innovative green technologies including a large 140 MW green hydrogen plant have been announced for Schwechat. Borealis, an Austria-based polyolefin manufacturer, has suspended mechanical recycling plans in Schwechat, but this is unrelated to refinery operations or primary ethylene/propylene production.
As of now, no new information about the progress of these efforts has been provided since the statement made by OMV on Tuesday evening. The public is encouraged to stay updated on any further developments regarding the production disruption at the Schwechat refinery.
The industry park Schwechat, district administrative authority Bruck an der Leitha, and the energy-related projects at the refinery are all relevant parties involved in the ongoing situation. Despite the production disruption, the finance sector has not been directly affected as the petrochemical plant's disruption did not impact fuel production.
