Serious problem for petrol stations: the Hungarian refinery has not restarted

An inspection has found a problem at the Mol oil refinery in Százhalombatta and production has not restarted.

The restart of Mol’s Danube Refinery in Százhalombatta is delayed. There was a technical problem during the last pressure test, napi.hu reports. The restart was scheduled for 2 December, but it will not happen this week.

The refinery was running at 55 percent for a long time because a failure was detected during a planned maintenance process. A crack was found during a pressure test, which means another delay of at least 3 days.

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There are already temporary stock shortages at many petrol stations. “The government has to decide whether to regulate prices or supply the market with fuel. I think that the restrictions today are already causing more damage than the price increases caused in the past,” index.hu quotes Otto Grád, secretary general of the Hungarian Mineral Oil Association, as saying.

Mol also admitted that the partial shortage of product, typically lasting a few hours, occurred in 20 percent of their network. It is not only the Százhalombatta refinery that is causing problems, but also the lack of imports.

Márton Nagy, the Minister of Agricultural Development, said that security of supply was more important than anything else. This is why the Friendship Pipeline is a necessity.

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Source: index.hu, napi.hu