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The first phase of the planned major shutdown of the Danube Refinery in Százhalombatta has been completed. Hungarian oil company Mol has kept to their schedule and restarted all plants, bringing fuel production back to full capacity, the company revealed in a statement to MTI.
Mol had originally planned to carry out the maintenance and shutdown in April, but the fuel market situation did not allow it at that time – it was not possible to shut down because the country’s gasoline and diesel supplies had to be secured.
According to a statement from Mol, this was the largest maintenance operation in the history of the Danube Refinery, with more than 1,200 technicians involved in the work, which had a budget of HUF 8 billion (EUR 20 million).
The major shutdown was also one of the most complex industrial technical inspections in Hungary,
as after the necessary maintenance work, the responsible authorities also inspected the equipment,” the statement reads. There will also be a second phase of maintenance, scheduled to start on October 9.
Fuel prices in Hungary will change again this week, with 95 octane petrol prices rising by 8 forints gross and diesel prices falling by 15 forints gross. Over the weekend, the government announced that the price cap will remain in place in Hungary, so people can continue to fill up for 480 forints until December 31.
However, in the meantime, problems remain in the supply chain.
Over the weekend, Mol informed some of its partners that “in the interests of fuel order planning and national security of supply,” only 25 percent of diesel and petrol will be available at some wells in the coming week.
In response to questions from Telex, a Hungarian news site, Mol said there is enough fuel in Hungary, “but Mol has a much larger customer base than before because of the drop in imports: we cover more than 80 percent of the country’s fuel needs. Since the beginning of March, the company has signed wholesale contracts with 258 new partners, including a number of independent petrol stations that did not previously buy their fuel from Mol. The current 25 percent restrictions only apply to these new partners, who have been added to our customer base this year due to the loss of imports,” the company stated.
Featured photo via MTI/Máthé Zoltán