Hungarian oil refinery blaze: MOL addresses allegations of foreign interference

Authorities are still investigating the cause of the fire at MOL’s Százhalombatta refinery, while online speculation already points to possible sabotage. This suspicion arose partly because, shortly before the incident in Hungary, a massive explosion shook the Ploiești refinery in Romania—one of the country’s largest plants. At a MOL press conference, the company addressed these concerns and provided further details about what might have happened.

Was the oil refinery targeted in an attack?

Miklós Szánthó, head of the Centre for Fundamental Rights, hinted in a Facebook post that the refinery might have been deliberately targeted in an attack.

The refinery is restarting

Hungary’s fuel supply remains secure despite the fire at MOL’s Danube refinery in Százhalombatta, MOL Hungary’s spokesperson declared during a press briefing in Budapest on Tuesday. She added that the disaster management authorities detected no air pollution levels exceeding health limits in the affected area.

Piroska Bakos recalled that the fire broke out late on Monday night in the AV3 distillation unit of the Danube refinery. Firefighters managed to contain the blaze, no injuries were reported, and investigations into the cause of the fire are underway. While assessing the damage, MOL is gradually restarting the refinery units unaffected by the incident.

No external interference detected

Krisztián Pulay, CEO of the MOL Group, emphasised that there is no evidence suggesting that any external interference caused the fire. He also firmly denied any connection between the explosion at the Romanian oil refinery and the blaze at the Danube refinery.