Some incidents were reported at European refiners in recent weeks. Austria’s OMV said June 8 that it anticipates “longer repair work” at its Schwechat refinery and is looking at new supply options. The restart of Schwechat from maintenance has been delayed following an incident at the crude distillation unit on June 3. The turnaround .
European refiners looking to replace Russian crude have turned to countries and grades that have seen limited flows to the continent in recent years, as well as buying more oil from sources used regularly prior to the invasion of Ukraine. Refiners have started buying crude cargoes from as far afield as Abu Dhabi and Angola .
With the EU planning to ban Russia’s crude imports within six months, following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, European refiners will have to look for alternative supply, though many of them have already started diversifying their sources. Shell and Sweden’s Preem were among the first to cease all spot purchases of Russian oil and products. .
German refiners are facing a ‘major challenge’ to replace imports of Russian crude by the year end after Europe’s biggest economy and world’s second largest buyer of Russian oil revealed plans to phase out almost all Russian supplies by the end of this year. Speaking March 25, Germany’s economy minister Robert Habeck said Russian oil .
Austria’s OMV will strive to become a “leading producer of sustainable fuels and chemical feedstock in Europe” and aims to reduce fossil fuel processing, the company said. OMV said fossil fuel processing at its European refineries will “decline significantly” in terms of volumes and margins as it focuses on renewable fuels and sustainable chemical feedstocks. .