Orlen Unipetrol’s recently restarted Litvínov refinery faces flood threat

Orlen Unipetrol AS subsidiary Orlen Unipetrol RPA SRO is prepared to implement any necessary crisis measures at its 5.4-million tonne/year (tpy) integrated refining and petrochemical complex in Litvínov in the Czech Republic amid an ongoing “extraordinary flood” event in the region.

As of 3:00 p.m. local time on Sept. 16, operations remained ongoing at the refining and petrochemical sites, but internal crisis teams at both sites are proceeding with internal plans to minimize negative impacts resulting from the weather event on the plants’ technologies, equipment, feedstocks, and finished production, as well as any potential impacts that could endanger the surrounding environment, the operator said.

Orlen Unipetrol said the production sites and the network of Orlen gas stations also are coordinating implementation of necessary measures to restore safe operation of at least nine Orlen gas stations across the Czech Republic that were closed as of 4:00 p.m. local time due to the flooding situation.  

The low-pressure storm system named Boris—the worst the region has seen in nearly 30 years— began its slow move through central Europe the week of Sept. 9 and has led to mass-flooding events and deaths in the Czech Republic, Poland, Austria, and Romania, according to local media outlets.

The weather event comes just days after Orlen Unipetrol restarted the Litvínov refining and petrochemical operations after completely shuttering and declaring force majeure on production from the sites to remove an unexploded aerial World War II bomb discovered on Aug. 21 during excavation work in a remote part of the Chempark Záluží petrochemical complex (OGJ Online, Aug. 29, 2024; Aug. 23, 2024).

In a series of late-August through early September releases, Orlen Unipetrol confirmed the restart of all operations and lifting of its force majeure event—declared on Aug. 22—on Sept. 10 following days of site safety inspections by the Czech Republic police, fire and rescue services, and internal teams in the wake of the bomb’s successful removal via controlled detonation by the police and fire rescue services on Aug. 30.

Production at Chempark Záluží had resumed by Sept. 9, with operations of the Litvínov refinery restored as of Sept. 10, Orlen Unipetrol said.

The bomb’s controlled detonation did not result in “any substantial damage that would complicate” restarting operations of either site, according to a Sept. 9 release from the operator.