THE CENTURY OF PETROL - Petroleum.cz

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THE CENTURY OF PETROL 

THE HISTORY OF THE REFINING INDUSTRY IN THE CZECH LANDS 

LUDùK HOLUB, OLD¤ICH ·VAJGL, MIROSLAV NEVOSAD, 

ALE· SOUKUP, ROSTISLAV KOPAL

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LUDùK HOLUB, OLD¤ICH ·VAJGL, MIROSLAV NEVOSAD, 

ALE· SOUKUP, ROSTISLAV KOPAL

This publication is being issued on the occasion of the 

60th anniversary of the post-war recovery 

of the Litvínov refinery and the 30th anniversary 

of the commissioning of the New Refinery Kralupy 

as well as the 10th anniversary of the 

foundation of âeská rafinérská. 

Dedicated to 

Mr. Pavel Ká‰, on his 90th birthday, and to all of those who 

have contributed to the development of the refining industry 

in the Czech Lands, whether they are named in this 

publication or not. 

Acknowledgements 

For their valuable comments and the historical materials 

they contributed to the preparation of the text, the authors 

would like to thank the reviewers who witnessed first hand 

much of the history it describes: 

Pavel Ká‰, Franti‰ek Kubelka, Vratislav Mráz, 

Ivan Ottis, Milo‰ Podrazil, Franti‰ek Srb 

andProfessor Gustav ·ebor. 

They would also like to express their gratitude 

to Neil Mackay for comments to content and review 

on the English language version. 

The âeská rafinérská publishers extend their thanks to all of those 

who have contributed documents and historical objects towards the 

preparation of this publication, whether those materials were 

ultimately included or not. 

© Ludûk Holub, Oldfiich ·vajgl, Miroslav Nevosad, 

Ale‰ Soukup, Rostislav Kopal, 2005


THE HISTORY OF THE REFINING INDUSTRY IN THE CZECH LANDS

Content 

8 The Beginnings of the Use of Petroleum 

16 The Refining Industry in the Czech Lands: Its Origins and Development up to 1918 

24 Development of Czech Refineries during the Period 1918 to 1945 

32 The Litvínov Refinery and Petrochemical Works: Its Establishment and Evolution 

58 Crude Oil Refinery in Kralupy nad Vltavou 

68 Development of Other Czech Refineries since the End of World War II 

76 Oil Lifting 

80 Pipelines for the Transport of Crude Oil and Refined Products 

84 Distribution Pipelines for Refinery Products 

90 Privatization of Czech Refineries and the Establishment of âeská rafinérská 

103 Literature

The Beginnings of the Use 

of Petroleum

Oil collecting by Agrigento (Sicily), 16 th century 

The Beginnings of the Use 

of Petroleum 

Petroleum (rock oil, crude oil, crude) has 

been known since a very early age. Sources 

from the Antique and the Middle Ages 

often do not differentiate among asphalt, 

bitumen (pitch), and crude oil (rock oil). 

The term “petroleum” first appeared when 

condensation-based distillation technology 

was introduced. Depending on its 

places of origin, solid bitumen was called, 

for example, Jewish (Dead Sea) bitumen 

or Indian bitumen, whereas liquid bitumen 

was a synonym to crude oil. Almost 

two thousand sites where bitumen occurs 

are known in the Fertile Crescent region 

between the rivers Nile and Indus. Excavations 

at the site called Hit near the Euphrates 

in Mesopotamia show that petroleum 

(called ‘naft’) was lifted there five to 

six thousand years ago. The Babylonians 

and Sumerians, living in the territory of 

today’s Iraq, used bitumen, the pitch-like 

residue from petroleum, as cement and 

mortar and also to fill fissures in boats. 

Traces of asphalt paving having at least 

the same quality as that in the streets in 

today’s Iraqi cities have been found in the 

courtyards and streets of the Sumerian 

8

city of Ur. The inhabitants of ancient Sumer 

used a liquid fuel, probably petroleum, 

which occurred in the area around 

the city more abundantly than wood. The 

ancient Egyptians made axle grease from 

petroleum and used petroleum products to 

embalm mummies. The Chinese used rock 

oil for lighting two thousand years ago. 

Many ancient authors describe incendiary 

mixtures made from crude oil with sulphur, 

resin and bitumen, which were used 

in weapons ranging from fire arrows to 

flame throwers. The Greeks first saw petroleum 

during the war campaigns of Alexander 

the Great (336 to 323 B.C.) and 

called it naphtha. “Greek fire”, an incendiary 

mixture (composed of burnt lime, 

which reacted with water while developing 

heat) floating on water, began to be 

used in warfare by Byzantine Greeks in 

the Middle Ages. Invented by the Greek 

Kallinikos, Greek fire was first used as a 

weapon against the Arabs in the naval 

battle of Kyzikos in 678. 

Rock oil has been lifted since time immemorial 

in Armenia, Georgia and in the 

northern Caucasus near the city of Baku 

on the shore of the Caspian Sea. In the 

late 13th century, Marco Polo described 

rock oil after returning from the Orient, 

where it was extracted from dug wells and 

was added to medical ointments to treat 

skin diseases both in humans and in animals. 

People in that region also burned 

unfixed cotton wicks soaked with petroleum 

in narrow clay lamps. 

The technique of distilling in bottle-like 

containers made of burnt clay, stoneware 

or metal with vapour condensation in the 

9 

distillation trap was invented by Coptic 

alchemists in Alexandria in the first three 

centuries A.D.; much later the knowledge 

of this process was brought by Arab scientists 

to Europe through Salerno in Italy 

and Toledo in Spain. During crude oil distilling 

in a pot with a distillation head, 

with a vapour bath or ash used as a sand 

bath, a clear liquid was distilled off and 

the dark oil remained on the bottom of the 

distillation pot. 

The Saxon mineralogist and physician, 

Georius Agricola (1491–1555), who worked 

in Jáchymov in the Czech Kingdom, 

“Greek fire” being used in a naval battle – representation from around 1300 

Baku in the 17 th century, by E. Kampfer 

(in today’s Azerbaijan)

Colonel E. I. Drake 

won undying fame for his Latin work “De 

re metallica libri XII”, which was considered 

as the best technical book on mining 

and metallurgy for as long as two centuries. 

In the context of the roasting of ores 

containing sulphur and bitumen on roasting 

beds, or distillation in furnaces, Agricola 

describes that the waste bitumen serves 

for the production of torches and axle 

greases, wood protection against weather 

effects, as anticorrosion preparation for 

the protection of iron and copper, for lighting, 

and also as a remedy against epilepsy, 

gout and pest. He called liquid bitumen 

petroleum, i.e. oil springing from 

rocks, which solidifies when exposed to 

the cold, and evaporates its liquid fractions 

if exposed to heat. 

From the 15th century, this oil was used in 

lamps for lighting, replacing olive oil, 

particularly in Sicily. Later, in the 18th century, 

it served for street lighting in the 

North Italian cities of Genoa and Parma. 

Other oil pools occur in the northern and 

southern foothills of the Carpathians, i.e. 

in Halich (now part of Poland) and in Romania. 

Some of the first petroleum distil- 

lations in Romania took place in Bistria 

and Brasov, but mineral oil processing in 

Romania began later, in 1840–1860. 

Early in the 20th century, Romanian oil 

production surpassed the production level 

achieved in Halich. 

The first description of Halich oilfields 

dates back to 1721 and refers to the 

occurrence of petroleum in the vicinity of 

the town Boryslaw. Between 1780 and 

1880, obviously independently on each 

other, Romanian, Russian, Polish and 

Czech practitioners were struck by the 

Kerosene lamp on a postage stamp 

idea that crude oil could be distilled and 

a fraction boiling at 150 °C to 250 °C, 

called petrol (rock oil), could be separated 

to be used for lighting. In 1810 to 

1817, Joseph Hecker and Johann Mitis in 

Boryslaw (Halich) recovered rock oil on a 

larger scale to distil lighting oil from it. 

After unsuccessful attempts there was just 

minimum interest in exploiting Halich petroleum, 

as can be seen from the fact that 

only 2,400 tonnes of petroleum was sold 

as lubricant in 1840. 

The oil and gas wells near the port of 

Baku on the Caspian Sea were described 

by the Persians, Arabs, and European travellers. 

As reported by Alexander von 

Humboldt, there were about 82 wells 

around Baku in 1829. A powerful refinery 

was built in Baku in 1863, and 

23 refineries (or more) operated there ten 

years later. 

The beginnings of industrial petroleum 

processing date back to the mid-1850s. 

The first kerosene lamps appeared between 

1853 and 1855 and soon replaced 

the oil lamps used for lighting in homes 

until that time. The invention of the kerosene 

lamp is ascribed to a number of 

men, including, for example, Ignacy Lukasiewicz 

(1822–1882), a Polish pharmacist 

in Lvov, and Benjamin Silliman 

(1779–1864) of New Haven, USA. The 

kerosene lamp gained importance after 

the discovery of the first rich source of oil 

at Titusville, Pennsylvania: on 27 August 

1859, Colonel E. I. Drake (1819–1880) 

struck a copious petroleum deposit at a 

depth of 25 metres, and petroleum exploitation 

started soon afterwards. The first 

oil fields arose and the first industrial 

petroleum refineries started to be built. 

Thus the use of kerosene for lighting laid 

the foundations of the world’s petroleum 

industry. 

10

Refinery by-products included heavier oils 

used as lubricants for machines and paraffin 

to make candles. The lighter fraction 

– petrol (gasoline) – remained unmarketable 

ballast. However, this changed 

after the invention of the liquid-fuel 

combustion engine. Petrol broke the superiority 

of steam, which had dominated the 

transport industry for a period longer 

than a century. It was not until the early 

20th century that petrol became the main 

product of petroleum processing. Its consumption 

started growing very quickly afterwards. 

The invention of the Diesel engine 

opened up extensive scope for the 

use of diesel fuel, which soon filled the 

gap left by lighting kerosene, sales of 

which had declined when kerosene and 

acetylene lamps had been supplanted by 

town-gas and electricity. The diesel engine 

quickly gained ground, replacing 

steam engines mainly in road and water 

transport, and frequently also in electricity 

generation. Coal had provided the 

power base of the 19th century but the 

progress in motoring brought about the 

dominance of liquid fuels. Once the foundations 

of industrial oil recovery and processing 

were laid in the last quarter of the 

11 

Baku refinery, circa 1912 

19th century, the “automotive adventure” 

opened up, at the end of the 19th and the 

beginning of the 20th centuries, our era of 

liquid fuels manufactured from petroleum. 

In the 20th century, petroleum and its derivatives 

became the most important strategic 

raw material and brought about an 

increase in the standard of living to the 

Euro-American civilisation. The economic 

importance of petroleum was reflected in 

the growth of petroleum production and 

processing. The quantity of petroleum extracted 

and processed throughout the 

world before 1870 had been only about 

three quarters of a million tonnes. During 

the years that followed, the growth of petroleum 

production and consumption accelerated 

to exceed 50 million tonnes 

in 1914. 

The task of mineral oil refineries was to 

separate the needed components from 

crude oil. These included kerosene and 

fuel oil, later also lubricating oils and 

asphalt and, later still, petrol (gasoline) 

and diesel oil. When car production started 

spreading early in the 20th century the 

petroleum distillation process was soon 

found to be unable to meet the growing 

demand for engine gasoline. Its content in 

Benjamin Silliman 

Ignacz Lukasiewicz

crude was only about 20 %. Producers 

sought to transform other petroleum fractions 

into gasoline, and a solution was 

found in the introduction of secondary 

processing methods. Cracking – first, 

after 1910, thermal and later catalytic – 

became the most important secondary 

process. Using these methods increased 

the proportion of gained petro! and improved 

the profit margin ratio of the mi- 

Distillation methods in the Middle Ages 

neral oil refineries. Diesel fuel became 

another major fuel next to gasoline. The 

development in the consumption of these 

fuels took different courses in different 

parts of the world. Consumers in the USA 

and the USSR preferred gasoline, whereas 

the consumption of diesel fuel steadily 

grew in Europe. 

The major Czech refineries, the supply of 

crude oil to those refineries, and the sale 

of their main products developed within 

this broad worldwide context. Hydrogenation 

processes for liquid fuel production 

based on coal as a fossil raw material developed 

alongside the century-old refinery 

methods during the turbulent and varied 

history of petroleum processing on 

the Czech territory. These processes will 

be referred to in their historical context 

described in the following chapters. 

Rock-oil (crude oil) collection in the book “De re metallica libri XII” by Georgius Agricola (1494–1555) 

▲ 

12

The Refining Industry in the Czech Lands: 

Its Origins and Development 

up to 1918

Map from 1869 of the Astro-Hungarian Empire, including the Czech Lands and Halich 

The Refining Industry in the Czech Lands: 

Its Origins and Development up to 1918 

▲ 

Pfiívoz Works, located on the territory 

of today’s Ostrava, circa 1900 

The Czech Lands – Bohemia and Moravia 

– were part of Austria-Hungary until 

1918. The monarchy’s major oil fields 

were located in the eastern part of its territory 

– in Halich, i.e. southeast Poland 

and part of the Ukraine (a belt extending 

from Krakow to Lvov). Initially, the crude 

oil was processed directly in the Halich 

refineries, but their capacity soon failed 

to keep pace with the growth in petroleum 

demand. In other parts of the monarchy, 

refineries started to be built in the 1880s. 

According to 1887 statistics, 56 of the 

total number of 64 Austrian refineries 

were located in Halich. Halich was the 

third largest oil-producing region in 

1908. Austrian refineries processed mainly 

the Halich petroleum but later they 

also used some Romanian and American 

petroleum (the imports of which were limited) 

and, in particular, petroleum imported 

from Caucasus. 

The Czech contribution to the petroleum 

industry is documented, for example, by 

the word gatch (gatsch), meaning the soft 

wax produced during the paraffin manufacturing 

process. It contains paraffin and 

an oil fraction, which is removed by pres- 

16

sure-filtration. The word “gatch” (spelt in 

different ways) originated from the Czech 

“ka‰e”, or “ká‰” (mash or paste). 

In Bohemia (the western part of today’s 

Czech Republic) the first kerosene producing 

refinery started operation in 1887 at 

Zábofií near T˘nec nad Labem, which, however, 

was soon destroyed by fire (in 

1893). In Moravia, Count Larisch established 

the Bohumínská Refinery Public Limited 

Company at Nov˘ Bohumín in the Ostrava 

region, which was bought in 1893 

by the Mineralölrafinerie, Aktiengesellschaft 

of Budapest. The new owner extended 

the production, and the refinery became 

one of the largest enterprises in what 

then was Astro-Hungary. The same company 

also owned refineries in Rijeka (today’s 

Croatia) and Braçov (today’s Romania). 

The Bohumín factory was later tran- 

Lederer & Co. – Kralupy Oil Refinery, Limited Partnership 

17 

Fanta’s Works, Pardubice 

sferred to Czech hands in 1922: the head 

office moved from Vienna to Prague and 

the company was taken over by Fantovy 

závody Pardubice. Under the pressure of 

fierce competition the Bohumín operations 

had to be closed down in 1930. Another 

refinery operating in the Ostrava region in 

Northern Moravia was Pfiívozské továrny 

na ãi‰tûní olejÛ (Oil Refining Factories at 

Pfiívoz) established in 1888 by Dr. Max 

Böhm. Renamed “Pfiívozské závody minerálních 

olejÛ”, it later became a public 

limited company in which an interest was 

held by Holandische Maatschapij, Amsterdam. 

The plant had been designed to process 

Halich petroleum, but it also used 

petroleum from Caucasus. It was found at 

Pfiívoz that in addition to kerosene as the 

main product, the Halich petroleum also 

yielded good lubricating oils. 

Another refinery, Fantovy závody, was established 

in Pardubice in 1889 by David 

Fanta, a merchant established in Vienna. 

The refinery first processed only from 

Caucasian petroleum but it soon switched 

part of its facilities to the use of the Halich 

petroleum, which was 50 % kerosene 

and was more difficult to separate than 

the petroleum from the Caucasus. The facilities 

were redesigned in 1904, after 

which the output of the refinery grew considerably 

so that its products could be exported 

to Germany and Switzerland. In 

addition to the production of kerosene, 

petrol and lubricating oils, Fanta’s refinery 

also manufactured paraffin to make 

candles. The growing sales volume required 

the construction of additional facilities. 

To raise capital for this expansion,

Kolín Kerosene Refinery 

Fanta established a public limited company 

in 1907. Towards the end of the 19th century, his factory processed about 

60,000 tonnes of petroleum annually, but 

this figure grew to 150,000 tonnes after 

the expansion. The company had two 

smaller plants in Hungary and storage facilities 

in bigger cities; it also owned 

14 ships and 500 rail tank cars. 

Then followed the construction of a mineral 

oil refinery at ·umperk (established in 

the mid-1890s), which was bought later 

by the Bratislava-based Apollo-Nafta 

company in 1928. In the mid-1930s the 

·umperk operation was then closed down. 

Kralupská rafinérie minerálních olejÛ Lederer 

a spol. (Mineral Oil Refinery in Kralupy, 

Lederer & Co.) was established as a 

limited partnership in 1900 and began 

building factory premises and a railway 

siding in an area of 6 hectares between 

the railway line to Kladno and the southern 

fringe of the town of Kralupy. Still in 

the same year, a kerosene plant began to 

be built there, including an administrative 

building, laboratories, a boiler house, 

two high chimneys, petrol, kerosene and 

oil distillation facilities, a paraffin separating 

plant, an oil separating and refining 

plant, a grease-making facility, a dispatch 

area, a battery of storage tanks, piping 

and other supporting facilities. Horse 

traction was exclusively used for shunting 

the rail tank cars in the railway siding at 

that time. The refinery was able to process 

20,000 tonnes of crude oil a year to produce 

kerosene for lighting, mineral lubricating 

oils, jellies and also paraffin for 

candles. Called “Petrolejka”, the plant 

processed petroleum from Boryslaw, an 

important oil field in Halich. According to 

the archives (for 1910), 100 kg of the Boryslaw 

petroleum yielded 5 kg of petrol, 

38 kg of kerosene, 5 kg of paraffin, 1 kg 

of heavy lubricating oils, 20 kg of gas oils 

and other non-refined oils, and 3 kg 

of asphalt. The process losses were comparatively 

high: about 28 kg. Environmental 

problems, accidents and fires had 

accompanied the refinery operation until 

World War I, which brought stagnation to 

the “Petrolejka”. 

Another important petroleum processing 

plant was the kerosene refinery in Kolín, 

which belonged to âeská akciová spoleãnost 

pro rafinování petroleje (Czech Kerosene 

Refinery Company Limited), established 

in 1901 by a group of wealthy citizens 

with a share capital of half a million 

Austrian crowns. Crude oil was first transported 

in rail tank cars to the refinery’s 

area, to be shunted further with an ox 

team (later replaced by locotractors and 

accumulator locomotives). Although the 

plant was well equipped, it always faced 

financial and marketing difficulties. In 

1925 it was leased and in 1929 sold to 

the US-owned Vacuum Oil Company, a.s. 

with its head office in Prague. Using overseas 

know-how, the new owner invested 

heavily in equipment for the plant and in 

the sales network; as a result, the company 

was restored to prosperity and became 

a reliable source of high profit. 

Using the batch distillation process, the 

plant first processed Halich petroleum and 

later also petroleum from Lower-Austria to 

produce lighting kerosene, petrol, and oil 

distillate. 

■ 

After 1893, petroleum refineries in the territory 

of Astro-Hungary attempted several 

times to establish cartels. These, however, 

did not last long, and their members did 

18

not observe the petroleum processing 

quotas that had been negotiated. In the 

last cartel pool before World War I, the 

quantities to be processed were allocated 

on the basis of a quantity contract key. The 

seven refineries, which processed 365 kilotons 

of crude oil annually before World 

War I and had a capacity of about 380 kilotons 

after the war, used the following capacity 

allocation key: 40 % for Fantovy 

závody Pardubice and 10 % for each of 

the remaining six refineries (Bohumínská 

rafinérie, Apollo Bratislava, Ostrava–Pfiívoz, 

Lederer Kralupy nad Vltavou, ·umperk, 

and Kolín). Cartel associations also 

existed during the inter-war era in the first 

Czechoslovak Republic. 

In the early times, petroleum was cut by 

the distillation process in refineries into 

three fractions: a light fraction, i.e. petrol, 

which then was an obnoxious and unmarketable 

waste; a medium fraction, i.e. kerosene 

for lighting; and the remaining heavy 

fraction of which about 2 % was used 

as lubricant. Petroleum was distilled in horizontal 

stills with a capacity of 10 to 100 

tonnes of petroleum. The distillation process 

started at 50 to 60 °C and the first 

fraction (raw petrol called naphtha, about 

10 % by volume) was then cut up to 

135 °C and up to 160 °C. Then the still 

was filled with superheated steam and the 

kerosene distillate ended at the temperature 

of 300 °C (about 75 % by volume). 

What remained in the still was the heavy 

petroleum residue, or “mazut”, which 

went to other oil stills for further distillation 

in vacuum, using steam. The distillate then 

condensed into several fractions. Asphalt 

▲ 

Naphtha condenser, 19 th century 

was the distillation residue. One or two paraffin 

oil fractions were recovered when a 

paraffin raw material was processed. With 

a low-paraffin raw material the oil was divided 

into ten or even more fractions, depending 

on their physical characteristics. 

The isolated crude paraffin distillate was 

then cooled in crystallisers to about -5 °C, 

using brine. The crystallised paraffin was 

continuously scraped off the cooling surfaces. 

The cooled mixture was then put in filter 

presses to separate crude paraffin. The 

oil remaining in the separated paraffin 

(called gatch) was removed in sweatboxes. 

The filtrate from the filter presses was distilled 

to reach the required viscosity. Paraffin 

was refined first by means of sulphuric 

acid and then with bleaching clay. 

Petroleum distillates were refined in agitators, 

using concentrated sulphuric acid followed 

by soda lye. The Russian chemical 

engineer Eichler is cited as having been 

the first to introduce this process (in Baku, 

1860), which soon spread to other petroleum 

producing regions such as Pennsylvania, 

Halich, and Romania. Most of the 

sulphuric acid monohydrate used in the 

process was supplied from the J. D. Starck 

chemical works in West Bohemia. 

Ranked by priority or importance at that 

time, refinery products can be listed as 

follows: kerosene, petrol, lubricating oils 

(refined, i.e. bearing and spindle oils, 

and non-refined, i.e. vulcan oils for the 

bearings of railway wagons and cylinder 

oils for lubricating steam engines), thin 

oils (gas oil and blue oil), refined paraffin, 

petroleum jelly, petroleum asphalt, 

and petroleum coke. 

A period of successful development of the 

individual Czech refineries came after 

World War I. 

Distiller for tar, pitch, kerosene and paraffin 

20

Kolín Mineral Oil Refinery, Vacuum Oil Company, Inc.

Development of 

Czech Refineries during 

the Period 1918 to 1945

Kralupy Mineral Oil Refinery, postcard from 1921 

Development of Czech Refineries 

during the Period 1918 to 1945 

< 

▲ 

Device for fraction distillation with spiral cooling 

The disintegration of the Austro-Hungarian 

monarchy after World War I created 

a new situation for industry of the Czechoslovak 

Republic, the new state established 

in 1918 in the territory of the 

Czech Lands and Slovakia with incorporated 

Sub-Carpathian Russia (today the 

Trans-Carpathian region of the Ukraine). 

The consumer market shrunk to a quarter 

of its pre-war size, while three-quarters of 

the former monarchy’s industry was located 

in the Czech territory. Many industries, 

including refineries, lost a part of 

their traditional marketing territories because 

some regions were outside the new 

national borders. 

The volumes of indigenous petroleum extraction 

in western Slovakia (Gbely) and 

later also in southern Moravia (Hodonín) 

remained under 30,000 tonnes annually 

until 1938, covering less than 10 % of the 

capacity of the Czech and Slovak refineries. 

Most of the petroleum had to be imported 

– first from Russia, America and 

Persia (Iran) and later almost exclusively 

from Romania. It was mainly “pakura”, 

24

petrol distillation bottoms containing petroleum 

and mazut (atmospheric distillation 

residue), that was imported from Romania, 

in order to avoid paying greater customs 

duties (under the rules then in force, 

the tariffs imposed on raw materials were 

lower than those on finished products). 

Electrification after World War I substantially 

reduced the demand for candles and 

lighting kerosene. On the other hand, the 

rapid development of the automotive and 

aviation industries required refineries to 

substantially expand their capacity to 

make automobile and aircraft fuels (gasoline, 

aviation-grade kerosene, diesel fuel), 

while continuing the production of oils. 

The technology used at that time in refineries 

was at first as simple as before the 

war. Batch distillation processes were 

used for redistillation of petroleum and its 

products, the oil distillates being refined 

with concentrated sulphuric acid. In addition, 

filter presses were used in paraffin 

production, and the final refining process 

was based on the use of bleaching clay. 

In the 1930s, the technological processes 

in all Czech refineries began to be modernised, 

reflecting the development elsewhere 

in the world. In the refineries in Kolín, 

Pardubice, Moravská Ostrava, as well 

as the Apollo Refinery in Bratislava, Slovakia 

(established in 1895) batch distillation 

was replaced by the more efficient 

vacuum batch distillation process, later 

replaced by the continuous vacuum pipe 

distillation technology. 

The first thermal cracking plant in Czechoslovakia 

was built in Apollo Bratislava, 

using a US licence. This allowed produc- 

25 

tion of higher-octane gasoline and petroleum 

coke from the heavy distillation bottoms. 

A new state-owned refinery, using 

the vacuum-distillation process, was built 

at Dubová, Slovakia, in 1935. It processed 

low-paraffinic petroleum from the stateowned 

oil fields at Gbely and refined the 

crude petrol imported from Romania. This 

state-owned refinery was the only exception: 

otherwise all the refineries in Czechoslovakia 

had foreign owners (a US owner 

held the refinery in Kolín, a Swiss-Dutch 

owner held that in Pardubice, a French owner 

was in Bratislava, and an international 

group managed the refinery in Ostrava). 

Ethanol/petrol blends were important alternative 

liquid engine fuels, the use of 

which was extensively encouraged in the 

inter-war period. 

Supported by the mighty agrarian lobby, 

and following French and German patterns, 

Czechoslovak refineries began 

producing ethanol/petrol blends (50 % ethanol, 

30 % benzene, and 20 % petrol). Until 

1932 this product competed with the hydrocarbon 

based gasoline originated from 

pure petrol produced only from crude oil. 

In the crisis period between 1929 and 

1936, Czechoslovak law imposed the 

mandatory addition of 20 % anhydrous 

ethanol to petrol. Addressing the economic 

situation in the wood distillation industry 

the law also required that part of 

the ethanol (3 %) be replaced by anhydrous 

methanol. As a result, with the development 

of motoring, as much as 50 kilotons 

of ethanol were added annually to 

petrol (in 1935, this represented 20 % of 

total motor gasoline consumption). 

Ethanol/petrol and benzene blends as motor 

fuel were used until the early 1950s. 

Besides motor gasoline, refineries also 

manufactured diesel fuel, which was produced 

as a liquid fraction of hydrocarbons 

with boiling points at 220 to 370 °C 

in the petroleum distillation processes 

(winter and summer grade). 

All the Czechoslovak refineries produced 

spindle and bearing oils with pour points 

slightly below 0 °C, achieved through 

pressure filtration of paraffin. Lubricating 

oils with a lower pour point were produced 

from the imported low-paraffinic petroleum 

– for example, Bustenari Medium 

from Romania. Quality engine oils could 

only be produced by mixing imported 

components. Vacuum Oil Company in Kolín 

imported components for its Mobil oils 

from its affiliates. Fantovy závody in Pardubice 

blended its Fantolin motor oils 

Billboard, circa 1925

Illustration from book by Professor Stanislav Landa: Fuels and Their Uses 

from components imported from the 

US-based company Continental. Cylinder 

oils for superheated steam engines and 

other special oils were imported as well. 

Besides refineries, there were also a number 

of smaller companies involved in the 

business of blending and marketing special 

lubricating oils. 

Other processes allowing the production 

of almost all types of oils were introduced 

in Czech refineries only after 1940. A 

plant for producing oil for aircraft engines 

was built in the Kolín refinery. It was 

based on the selective refining of the va- 

cuum bottoms, using propane and a 

blend of phenol and cresol (the Duosol 

process), which was not very common in 

Europe at that time. The same unit was in 

use in Vacuum Oil Company’s refinery in 

Hamburg. The raffinates from the Duosol 

unit contained oil components, called 

brightstocks, which improved the lubricating 

property and were valued as additives 

to engine oils, particularly those for 

aircraft engines. A centrifugal de-waxing 

plant, a warm-refining plant (using bleaching 

clay), and a grease plant (manufacturing 

plant for plastic lubricants or lubri- 

cating greases) were also installed there. 

A centrifugal solvent de-waxing plant, based 

on the Barisol process using a dichloroethane/benzene 

mixture, was commissioned 

in the Pardubice refinery. A selective 

refining plant using the Suide-Nowak-Pöll 

system with tricresol as solvent, a 

plant for the centrifugal separation of 

components, and equipment for warm-refining 

with bleaching clay were also built 

but not put in operation. The sodium and 

calcium grease production plant, which 

had been built already in 1930, was in 

ruins in 1945 after repeated bomb attacks. 

However, the same technological 

units for oil manufacturing were commissioned 

at that time in the Pfiívoz refinery, 

where equipment for the propane de-asphalting 

of the bottoms was installed. 

The development of the Czech research 

base for fuel technology, including the introduction 

of a specialised field of university 

study, had begun as soon as the first 

petroleum refineries arose, towards the 

end of the 19th century, and continued, 

particularly successfully, in the inter-war 

period. Professor Ferdinand Schulz became 

the founder of the Czech school of 

fuel theory and technology. He had served 

as an assistant to Professor Karel Andrlík 

and was promoted to full professorship 

in 1920, when the Institute of Fuel and 

Illuminant Technology was established as 

a separate research unit at the Czech 

Technical University in Prague. Professor 

Schulz developed the process of mineral 

oil refining with sulphuric acid theoretically 

and wrote the first Czech fuel technology 

textbooks. 

26

A new Institute of Fuel and Mineral Oil 

Chemical Technology was opened at the 

Technical University in Brno, headed by 

Professor Rudolf Vondráãek. 

Stanislav Landa also ranked among the 

most important Czech scientists in the fuels 

area and later became Professor at 

the Prague Technical University. In 1933, 

he established BaÈa company’s Research 

Centre at Zlín (where world-famous Otto 

Wichterle also worked in a later period). 

After World War II he became Chief 

Technical Officer of âeskoslovenská továrna 

na motorová paliva (Czechoslovak 

Engine Fuels Works) at ZáluÏí near Most. 

In his research work, Professor Landa 

focused on the synthesis of hydrocarbons 

and on explaining the properties and 

structure of paraffins. He discovered a 

new hydrocarbon, tricyclodecane, which 

was given the name adamantane, in the 

petroleum from the oil wells near Hodonín 

in Moravia. 

The molecule model and structure of adamantane 

appeared on a Czechoslovak 

postage stamp issued in 1966 on the 

occasion of a centennial jubilee of the 

27 

Plaque with relief of Professor Ferdinand Schulz 

Chemical Society of the Czechoslovak 

Academy of Sciences. 

Adamantane chemistry was among the 

science fields studied in depth at the Technological 

University in Prague after World 

War II. In 1952, Stanislav Landa established 

a Crude Oil and Petrochemistry Department 

at the University of Chemical 

Technology (V·CHT), from which many 

outstanding professionals went into both 

the technological practice and research 

sectors. Landa’s followers, particularly Jifií 

Mosteck˘ and Otto Weisser, continued in 

his scientific and educational work. 

In 1923, the Mine Owners Society established 

the Institute for Economical Utilisation 

of Fuels in Prague. In 1927 an Institute 

for Scientific Research of Coal was 

established in Prague. Associate Professor 

Hans Tropsch, a German born in Planá u 

Mariánsk˘ch Lázní (in western Bohemia), 

was an outstanding representative and 

the first Director of the latter institute. He 

co-operated with Franz Fischer of Mühlheim 

to develop the technology of preparing 

liquid hydrocarbons from CO and 

H2. Later he emigrated to the USA, and 

Bfietislav ·imek replaced him as Director 

of the Institute for Scientific Research of 

Coal in Prague. 

As did companies in other countries, 

Czechoslovak companies, particularly 

Spolek pro chemickou a hutní v˘robu 

(Chemical and Metallurgical Production 

Association) in Ústí nad Labem, Vacuum 

Oil Company in Kolín, and the Explosia 

Works at Semtín, carried out research 

into the preparation of the production of 

liquid fuels from coal. 

Professor Stanislav Landa 

The BaÈa shoe company also built a small 

refinery within its chemical production plant 

at Otrokovice. It was put in operation in 

1934 and continued working for only a 

short period during the year, to avoid losing 

its production licence under the regulations 

then in force. Otherwise, BaÈa bought liquid 

Adamantane molecule

Institute for Effective Use of Fuel, today, the Institute of the Structure and Mechanics of Rocks 

fuels from the cartel of refinery firms and 

did so at a discount under business contracts 

negotiated under the threat of BaÈa’s 

ability to build a large refinery of its own. 

Despite the various benefits for the BaÈa 

company, the operation of the small refinery 

at Otrokovice was affected by numerous 

technical and economic drawbacks, 

and it had to be closed down in 1939. 

Petroleum was also processed in the Petrolea 

Works at Úvaly, using the batch distillation 

process. 

Its owner, Mr. Uhlík, used to buy one wagon 

of “pakura” (the mixture of petrol 

and fuel oil in ratio 1:1) in Romania that 

was imported as a raw material with 

advantageous clearance duty on it. This 

helped him to keep the licence right to 

construct a refinery of his own. In fact, he 

had never done that due to receiving a 

million CZK early in bribes from the cartel. 

On the basis of a process designed by 

Gustav ·ebor, Chief Technical and Sales 

Officer of the Julius Ruttgers Limited Partnership 

in Moravská Ostrava, the J. Ruttgers 

Works produced the so-called automotive 

benzol through primary distillation 

28

of raw benzene fractions. The product 

was a component of motor gasolines for 

many years: the mixture of petrol, automotive 

benzol and fermentation ethyl alcohol 

was distributed as “green petrol”. 

The fuel manufacturing processes in 

Czech refineries remained essentially unchanged 

until the end of World War II. 

Crude Oil Refineries in Czechoslovakia in 1923 

29 

The plant built by Germans at ZáluÏí between 

the towns Most and Litvínov during 

the war became the most important fuel 

producer after the war. All the remaining 

refineries had to put up with only a secondary 

role as producers of motor fuels, 

and they gradually switched to product 

ranges outside the fuels. 

Annual consumption of refinery products in 1923 

Product kt per year kg per capita 

Kerosene 40 3,0 

Gasoline 10 0,8 

Gas Oil 6 0,5 

Lubricants 30 2,5 

Total 86 6,8 

Note: The year consumption of kerosene was 6,3 kg per capita in the Astro-Hungary before World War I. 

Further chapters are devoted to specific developments 

of the Litvínov plant and to the 

history of the refineries in Kralupy, together 

with a glance at other refineries history, including 

short references about the ligting 

and transportation of crude, distribution of 

crude oil products and refinery research on 

the territory of the present Czech Republic. 

Name of refinery Year of foundation Capacity (kt) 

Rafinérie David Fanta Pardubice 1889 150 

Bohumínská rafinérie, a.s., Nov˘ Bohumín 1888 50 

Rafinérie Apollo Bratislava 1895 50 

Pfiívozská rafinérie minerálních olejÛ Pfiívoz 1889 45 

Rafinérie minerálních olejÛ Lederer a spol. Kralupy 1900 30 

Rafinérie minerálních olejÛ ·umperk 1895 25 

Kolínská rafinérie petroleje Kolín 1901 30 

Total capacity 380

The Litvínov Refinery and Petrochemical Works: 

Its Establishment and Evolution

Construction of the Litvínov plant for motor fuel production begins – 1941 

The Litvínov Refinery and Petrochemical Works: 

Its Establishment and Evolution 

▲ 

View of Litvínov plant 

from the early 1950’s. 

The Coal Tar Base 

After the occupation of the Czech Sudetenland 

border regions in 1938, the Germans 

designed and built coal hydrogenation 

plants to process the lignite / brown 

coal / from the older rich deposits in the 

Basin of Most at the foothills of the Ore 

Mountains Kru‰né hory – Erzgebirge/ in 

Northwestern Bohemia. They built a total 

of eight such plants before the outbreak of 

World War II: initially in Germany and, 

later, also in the countries they occupied. 

The plant in Bohemia was one of the last 

such plants to be built before the war. The 

technological process was based on highpressure 

hydrogenation of hard black 

coal or lignite, or coal tar, into gasoline, 

particularly aviation gasoline, needed 

mainly for the German war air force. 

Other major products of this process included 

petrol for cars / gasoline /, liquefied 

fuel gases, diesel fuel, and later also aviation 

kerosene. By-products included primarily 

monovalent and bivalent phenols. 

32

As mentioned above, during the fifteenyear 

period from 1927 to 1942 the Germans 

built large-scale operations using 

the new technology of high-pressure hydrogenation. 

This had not been tested anywhere 

else and was designed to provide 

Germany – as it had only poor petroleum 

sources of its own – with a sufficient 

supply of fuels, mainly for military use. 

The eight hydrogenation plants were built 

during that period. The first was built in 

Leuna in Saxony and had an annual capacity 

of 100 kilotons of aviation gasoline. 

Designed and used for processing of 

the relatively young brown coal from mines 

located around Leuna, it was successfully 

commissioned in 1927. The next three 

hydrogenation plants processed 

brown coal tar, two used hard coal and 

one used hard coal tar, which required 

more sophisticated process equipment. 

Tars were produced from coal by heating 

to a temperature of 600–700 °C without 

access of air (low-temperature carbonisation). 

The main product was a solid residue, 

referred to as semi-coke; fuel gas 

was also produced during the process. In 

1939 the above plants had a total capacity 

of 1.3 million tonnes of gasoline. By 

1945, construction had begun on another 

10 plants , representing a total capacity 

of 3.6 million tonnes of gasoline and 350 

thousand tonnes of hydrocarbon gases. 

Aviation gasoline was the main product, 

representing up to 65 % of the total output 

of the plants during the war period. Hydrogenation 

was also used for processing 

petroleum distillation bottoms under a 

pressure of 70 MPa. 

33 

Sorted coal from Most region 

(grain 20 – 80 mm) 

Lurgi Carbonization 

Distillation 

H 2 

Heavy phase 

catalyst 10927 

Hydrogenation slurry 

Kerosene 

Middle phase 

catalyst 8376 

Light phase 

catalyst 6434 

Distillation 

Diesel Fuel 

Toluene, Xylene Aromatic Fraction Aviation Fuel Automotive Gasoline 

At this time only one non-German plant of 

a similar type existed. It was located in 

Billingham, England, and it processed 

English hard coal by the high-pressure 

hydrogenation process. In addition, the 

technology was developed, and a number 

of other production units were put in operation, 

in which liquid hydrocarbons, 

mostly of the paraffinic type, were produced 

by means of the Fischer-Tropsch process 

from the synthesis gas containing 

carbon monoxide and hydrogen. Cobalt 

catalysts and iron catalysts were used in 

that process, the former under atmospheric 

pressure and the latter under increased 

pressure. 

The hydrogenation technology for converting 

fossil fuel to gasoline was based on 

early discoveries concerning the liquefaction 

of coal under the hydrogen pressure; 

Dephenoling Phenols 

Distillation 

Semicoke 

H 2 

H 2 

Superfractionation 

Dehydrogenation 

Winkler 

generators 

Hydrogen facility 

Hydrogen 

Solvents 

Simplified scheme of processing of coal to motor fuels and other products 

first studied in 1872 by Professor Marcelin 

Berthelot in France, who used hydrogen 

“in statu nascendi”. Early in the 20th century, 

Friedrich Bergius continued in this field 

by testing pressure hydrogenation with 

molecular hydrogen; the first catalysts suitable 

for this purpose were found later. After 

World War I, BASF (Badische Anilin 

und Soda Fabrik) introduced the process 

on an industrial scale. At that point, it was 

The first plant director, Dr. Paul Damm (civilian) 

O 2

Preparation of the land for construction of employee housing – today’s Osada quarter in Litvínov 

learned that sulphur-resistant catalysts 

were needed and that the pressure transformation 

of high-boiling-point liquid fractions 

produced from the coal material had 

to be divided into several technological 

stages. These improvements brought about 

larger yields of products similar to gasoline 

and diesel fuel from different types of petroleum. 

Such products were needed mainly 

for Otto spark-ignition engines and diesel 

engines to drive motor vehicles, which 

were already being manufactured at the 

time in rapidly increasing quantities. 

During the first stage of hydrogenation 

(the liquid or heavy phase), a product 

containing about 50 % of fractions having 

boiling points up to 320 °C was recovered 

from the fine-grained coal or tar residues 

with a boiling point above 320 °C 

by liquid-phase cracking in the presence 

of hydrogen and finely dispersed catalyst. 

Those fractions were separated by distillation. 

The residue and catalyst were then 

returned to the heavy phase unit. The distillate 

(up to 320 °C) was fractionated by 

distillation into petrol with a boiling point 

up to 220 °C and a residue. Light cut was 

de-phenolised and was passed to the 

second-stage hydrogenation unit (called 

chamber). The same was done with the 

high cut boiling above 220 °C (without 

phenol extraction). 

The whole distillate had to undergo catalytic 

hydrogenation refining in the second 

stage (the middle phase) on a solid heterogeneous 

metal sulfide catalyst to transform 

up to 30 % of the non-hydrocarbon 

components. The product obtained in this 

way was already very similar to the mixture 

of petrol, kerosene and diesel fuel 

produced from petroleum. It contained 

practically no unsaturated hydrocarbons; 

its level of sulphur-, nitrogen- and oxygen-containing 

substances had been lowered 

to under 0.1 % by weight and the 

content of aromatic hydrocarbons was re- 

duced to weight 5–15 %. The quantity of 

the newly produced light fractions was 

small and they consisted largely of hydrogenated 

products of oxygen compounds 

(phenols). 

In the third stage (the so-called light 

phase), the petrol content was increased 

by hydrocracking of medium distillates, 

again using the solid metal sulfide catalyst 

(also solid), the quality of both products 

being improved as a result of simultaneous 

isomerisation of alkanes and cyclanes. 

All three stages of tar hydrogenation took 

place under a pressure of about 30 MPa 

(hydrogenation of hard coal required a 

pressure of about 70 MPa) and at temperatures 

of 340 – 480 °C in the presence 

of catalysts. Catalysts had undergone rapid 

improvements. Mathias Pier, leading 

research engineer of the German company 

I. G. Farbenindustrie, invented the 

metal sulfide hydrogenation catalysts 

(particularly those based on molybdenum, 

tungsten and nickel), as well as the multistage 

hydrogenation processes. 

Hydroforming was an additional technology 

developed for the production of 

Construction inspection 

of Osada employee settlement 

Directive from the imperial minister of air 

transport to commence construction of DHD plant 

▲ 

34

Advertising leaflet, circa 1940 

high-octane aromatic petrol. During hydroforming, 

cyclanic tar light fractions produced 

by hydrogenation were transformed 

into aromatic hydrocarbons, particularly 

benzene up to trimethylbenzenes under 

a pressure of 5 to 6 MPa. The product 

was blended with isoparaffinic fractions 

of the light phase to produce high-quality 

aviation gasoline. 

In addition, new units for isooctane production 

began to be built. The technology 

was based on the process of alkylation of 

butenes with isobutane. Developed during 

the war, this technology is still used today. 

Isobutylalcohol was first used as the feed, 

but was gradually replaced by n-butane, 

which was available in larger quantities. 

The alkylation process included dehydration 

of the alcohol or dehydrogenation of 

n-alkane, polymeration of alkenes followed 

by hydrogenation of dimers, or only 

alkylation of butenes with isobutane in the 

presence of sulphuric acid (the last mentioned 

process is still in use in modern refineries 

or with hydrogen fluoride as well). 

From the German “Werke” to a 

Post-War Czechoslovak Enterprise 

Immediately after October 1938, when 

the Germans invaded the Czech border 

regions, Czech owners’ land was expropriated. 

The Sudetenländische Treibstoff- 

werke A.G. was established in 1939 and 

the giant concern of Hermann Göring 

Werke became the largest shareholder. It 

was quickly decided that a hydrogenation 

plant had to be built in the proximity of 

the town of Most in order to make use of 

the brown coal deposited in the Most region. 

Surveying work began already in 

1938. Professor Carl Krauch, the leading 

expert in the building of plants of that 

type, was the chief designer for the construction 

of the new plants. The groundbreaking 

ceremony was attended by Konrad 

Henlein, leader of the Sudeten German 

Party, who had come in the place of 

Hermann Göring, the man ranking second 

in the Nazi hierarchy. The construction 

design was divided into 4 stages. 

The plant was designed to process 6.6 million 

tonnes of Most brown coal and to produce 

670,000 tonnes of fuel annually, and 

the expectation for the post-war period 

was that output would be doubled. Eighty 

carbonisation furnaces, a hydrogen-production 

plant, sixteen hydrogenation 

chambers, distillation units, a power station, 

a steam production station and oxygen 

plant were to be built in the first stage. 

The construction work started as early as 

1939 and in 1942 the plant already employed 

more than 30,000 people, including 

some from France, Czechs, Soviet 

prisoniers of war, Serbs, and Italians. 

The plant at the village ZáluÏí near Most 

in northwestern Bohemia was the last of 

the series of hydrogenation plants designed 

by German engineers during the 

1927–1942 period. Another two plants – 

in addition to the seven existing ones – 

36

were being completed at the beginning of 

the war; the plants at ZáluÏí and Blechhammer 

were the last in this series. 

The first volumes of gasoline were produced 

on 15th December 1942. The supply of 

raw material, brown coal, came from the 

North Bohemian mines Herkules, Kolumbus, 

Quido, and others. The unit for the separation 

of oxygen and nitrogen from air 

and another one for the production of the 

water gas and hydrogen were commissioned 

early in 1943. The air separation plant 

built at ZáluÏí was the largest in Europe at 

that time. Diesel fuel and coal gas also began 

to be produced. In September 1943 

the plant employed 30,000 people and the 

units for all parts of the process were in full 

operation. In 1943 the plant processed as 

much as 280–360 kilotons of brown coal 

tar. The tar used in the process was produced 

by low-temperature carbonisation of 

The work pass of a forced labourer 

37 

the coal in Lurgi furnaces with direct heating 

by exhaust gases (commissioned as 

early as 1941). The whole plant operated 

until April 1944. 

The first allied air attack took place on 

12th May 1944. 1,650 bombs (weighing 

50–200 kg) were dropped on the plant. In 

spite of fogging, anti-aircraft defence measures 

and protection by fighter planes, 

the Allies carried out 19 successful air raids. 

On 16th January 1945 the plant was 

definitively put out of service and the only 

activity to continue was the cleaning up 

work. Despite all that, construction of 

another two units of the traditional hydrogenation 

technology was started in 1945, 

including a 150-kiloton hydroforming unit 

and a 24-kiloton alkylation unit. In April 

1945 there were still some 15,000 people 

working in the plant. The Soviet troops liberated 

it on 8th May 1945. 

Although advanced new technology was 

successfully introduced in wartime gasoline 

production, the Most coal, unlike coal from 

Saxony, had certain specific properties 

that caused significant problems in largescale 

production, and it was impossible to 

solve these problems during the war. 

In spite of the many heavy air strikes of 

1944–1945, Czechs restored the hydrogenation 

plant in Most at least to limited operation 

soon after the war ended. Immediately 

after liberation, Minister of Industry 

Bohumil Lau‰man authorised Gustav ·ebor, 

Chief Technical and Sales Officer of the Julius 

Ruttgers Company, to resume production 

of motor fuels and to provide sufficient 

fuel for the restoration of the national economy. 

The first volumes of gasoline were 

A working group at ZáluÏí 

produced on 3rd June 1945 and the plant 

was put under national administration on 

5rd June 1945. By the end of 1945 the 

plant already had 2,100 employees and 

had produced 49,000 tonnes of motor fuels. 

With no way to store hydrogen, the 

high-pressure operations depended on the 

co-ordination of hydrogen production and 

consumption i.e. between the compression 

on hydrogen unit and refilling of hydrogen 

into highpressure ringed gas for hydrogen 

units. In spite of many failures and a lack 

of trained professionals, development work 

began, aiming to expand the production of 

engine fuels to 300 kilotons and to start 

production of phenols. Plans had already 

been drawn up for the production of ammonia 

and methanol. 

After the war, the Allies seized all the 

German hydrogenation plants. The Soviet 

Union transferred the plant to the Czechoslovak 

state on 26th July 1946. The name 

Effects of allied air raid

Power plant T-700 during construction 

initially given to the plant in 1945, âeskoslovenská 

továrna na motorová paliva, 

a.s. (Czechoslovak Motor Fuel Factory, 

plc), was changed in 1946 to Stalinovy 

Leaflet produced upon the 40 th 

anniversary of handover the plant 

závody, n.p. ZáluÏí (Stalin Works National 

Enterprise, ZáluÏí) and under this 

name the plant was restored by Czech engineers 

(supported by a few German professionals) 

to the planned scale of production 

within the first two years after the 

war. It already produced gasoline, diesel 

fuel, petrol for industrial use, aviation gasoline, 

and technical gases. Fuel storage 

facilities were put in operation at Hnûvice; 

later on they were transferred to the Benzina 

fuel distribution company. Milo‰ Svitavsk˘ 

was the first CEO of the ZáluÏí enterprise 

and Stanislav Landa (who later 

became Professor specialising in the fuels 

area at the Technical University in Prague) 

was the first Chief Technical Director. 

The technological flow sheet of the enterprise 

(familiarly known by its Czech 

nicknames “Hydrák” and later “StaliÀák”) 

included the processing of the good-quality 

bitumenous coal (of the older browncoal 

type) obtained mainly in the large 

open-cast mines, ObráncÛ Míru, âeskoslovenské 

armády, and others, near the 

town Most. The coal was graded to three 

fractions according to grain size. The finest 

coal dust and the under 5mm fraction 

were used for production of steam and 

electricity in the company’s heating and 

power stations. The medium fraction, 

5–20 mm, was gasified by a modern process, 

using oxygen and steam under a 

pressure of 2 MPa in the Lurgi pressure 

generators. The town gas produced in this 

way was a high-quality product, having a 

gross calorific value of about 16 kJ/m3 . 

The largest grain-size fraction (20–80 mm) 

was carbonised in the high-capacity Lurgi 

furnaces directly heated by exhaust gases. 

About 12 % (by weight) of tar fractions 

were obtained from coal at 650 °C. 

Most of the coal matter was transformed 

into semi-coke, which was further treated. 

Part of it was supplied to other users and 

the rest was gasified in Winkler generators 

to produce water-gas, synthesis gas 

and also hydrogen, which was needed for 

tar hydrogenation. There had initially 

been 60 furnaces; 50 of them continued 

working, generating about 1,000 tonnes 

of tar daily. This tar was also blended 

with the lignite tars produced in Czech 

non-pressure gasworks and later also in 

other pressure gasworks (ÚÏín near Ústí 

nad Labem and Vfiesová in the Sokolov 

Coal Basin). Thus up to 500 kilotons of tar 

was available annually from 1945–1965, 

and about 70 % of that amount was produced 

by brown coal carbonisation in the 

Lurgi furnaces. These furnaces were in 

operation until 1972. Later the quantity of 

Original processing device documentation 

▲ 

38

processed tar, mostly produced from the 

Most brown coal, declined to about 

150 kilotons. It was used for the hydrogenation 

production of liquid fuels and for 

the production of fuel oils. 

The Most lignite tars were rich in phenolic 

substances, especially phenol, cresols and 

xylenols. From the tar distillate boiling up 

to 320 °C, a fraction having a boiling 

point up to 230 °C was also isolated, 

Printed material from the late 1950’s 

from which a phenol mixture and a number 

of industrial phenolic products (phenol, 

cresols and xylenol) were produced 

by extraction with caustic soda lye and by 

neutralization with carbon dioxide. Pyrocatechol 

and its homologues were extracted 

by solvent extraction (using butylacetate) 

from carbonisation waters that were 

processed separately. The butylacetate 

extract was processed, for the most part, 

into technical products and partly to pure 

crystalline pyrocatechol. Those products reached 

gradually their buyers abroad as 

well as within the domestic market. The remained 

dephenolised hydrocarbon fraction 

boiling up to 230 °C was returned to the 

rafination gas-phase as an additional feed. 

The liquid hydrocarbon mixtures recovered 

from this phase were treated by leaching, 

stabilisation, and distilling to serve 

for the production of motor gasoline, diesel 

fuel, and (to meet the requirements of 

the expanding jet plane transport) aviation 

kerosene (referred to as LRX), under 

the Czechoslovak standards then in force. 

Imported tetraethyl lead began to be 

added to motor gasoline in the 1950s. 

These products were suitable for low-compression 

car engines as well as for diesel 

engines in lorries and buses, including 

military equipment, and also for jet planes. 

As time passed, the octane number of 

motor gasoline went up from the early 

post-war value of 64 to 77 and 84 (the 

“Normal” and “Special” gasoline, respectively), 

and then continued to increase in 

line with European norms. 

By the end of the 1960s, aviation gasoline, 

which gradually declined in significance 

over the post-war period, was produced 

by a process based on the initial 

German formula. It consisted of blending 

the isoparaffinic fraction based on the 

light phase (boiling point up to 100 °C) 

and the heavier hydroforming aromatic 

phase, the ratio of the two fractions being 

about 1:1. Unleaded aviation gasoline 

(octane number 78) was produced in that 

way; subsequently. The highly leaded 

40

LB 95 aviation gasoline was produced 

from the unleaded petrol. Both fractions 

were produced in two additional hydrogenation 

units – by cracking under the 

pressure of hydrogen in the light phase 

(also called benzination) – and in the 

so-called DHD (Dehydrierunghochdruck) 

units, where cyclanes underwent catalytic 

dehydrogenation to aromatics under the 

pressure of hydrogen, i.e. hydroforming. 

As the supply of petroleum-based raw 

materials grew, processes separated from 

the tar processing technology had to be 

introduced and, later on, new refinery 

equipment had to be built. 

After 1946, the number of carbonisation 

furnaces increased; their operation was 

improved, as was the production of gasoline. 

In 1946, fuel production increased to 

130,000 tonnes, including 60 % motor 

gasoline and 25 % diesel fuel, the rest 

consisting of kerosene and hydrocarbon 

gases. Aviation gasoline 78 and petrol for 

industrial use started to be produced and 

the production of jet fuel followed as well. 

Petroleum distillates were already being 

supplied to the plant in tens of thousands 

of tonnes at that time. Hydrogen production 

was being stabilised. Up to ten hydrogenation 

units (chambers) in three phases 

were involved in the hydrogenation 

process. 

In 1948, production of methanol and formaldehyde 

was started and the first dehydrogenation 

unit (DHD) was put in continuous 

operation. Post 1949, motor fuel 

production was concentrated in Plant 

No. 03, and this designation was used 

until 1995. 

41 

Production at the ZáluÏí enterprise was 

completely stabilised during the early 

1950s. Tars were processed in eight hydrogenation 

units and one dehydrogenation 

unit, producing sufficient fuel for the 

whole Czechoslovak Republic. 

Plants in Böhlen and Leuna, in the former 

GDR, worked on a similar basis. The West 

German plants in Scholven and Ludwigshafen 

were transformed into petroleum 

refineries after the war and their refurbished 

hydrogenation units were used for 

converting petroleum residues to distillation 

of liquid fuels in the so-called combi 

chamber (DHC process). 

Many problems, caused predominantly by 

the properties of the local (Most) coal, had 

to be tackled at ZáluÏí immediately after 

the war. The tars produced by low-temperature 

carbonisation of this older brown 

coal were more aromatic,- they contained 

solid coal particles in the form of dust and 

were rich in high-molecular asphaltenes. 

Winkler generators for production of hydrogen from brown coal 

The content of oxygen and nitrogen derivatives 

in the Most tars was greater than in 

the tars from the younger brown coal from 

mines in Saxony. In addition, arsenic compounds 

began occurring in the tars towards 

the end of the 1950s, in concentrations 

as high as hundreds of ppm (10-6 ). 

They came from the arsenopyrites present 

in the coal exploited at newly opened mining 

sites. As a result, the working periods 

in the liquid phase hydrogenation units 

shortened during the hydrogenation of tar 

residues, the degradation of asphaltenes 

Trade Unions membership card

thousands of tonnes 

Feed stocks for motor fuel production at the Litvínov plant in 1945 – 1972 

5000 

4000 

3000 

2000 

1000 

0 

Carbonization coal 

Carbonization tars 

Other tars 

Crude oil 

Crude oil and distillates 

1945 1950 1955 1960 1965 1970 

by hydrogenation to oils had rapidly got 

worse, consumption of the iron-based catalyst 

increased, and the heat exchangers 

fouled. The problems in the second stage 

of refining included rapid arsenic fouling 

(up to several percent) of the solid sulfide 

catalyst. And during the third phase (benzination) 

the diluted tungsten disulphide 

catalyst was rapidly deactivated by the residues 

of the nitrogenous organic bases, 

which were present in the Most tar distillate 

in quantities five times greater than in 

the Saxon tars. 

The economics of motor fuel production 

from coal tars became more and more 

problematic towards the end of the 

1950s. Maintaining the high-pressure 

equipment made of high-alloy steel was 

increasingly difficult and costly, consumption 

of hydrogen for the tar hydrogenation 

was high (up to 10 % by weight). 

Gasification losses exceeded 20 %, and 

energy consumption for the process as a 

whole was too high in comparison with 

the use of the imported petroleum types in 

a hydrogenation plant of that kind. 

Transition to the Petroleum Base 

On the basis of an economic evaluation 

performed early in the 1960s, the decision 

was taken to switch from tar to petroleum. 

In 1956, the quantity of the petroleum 

used for processing exceeded that 

of all tars and by 1961 it was already 

three times greater. 

The most costly process of hydrogenation 

of tar residues in the liquid phase was ceased, 

as of 1963. The boiling end of tar 

distillates was reduced first to 280 °C and 

later to 225 °C, while also removing about 

30 % monovalent phenols through extraction 

with caustic soda lye. The phenols 

were then recovered by distillation in the 

so-called by-product facility. Tar residues 

above 225 °C, recovered (after closing 

down the carbonisation processes) from the 

tars produced by domestic town gasworks, 

were then used on a long-term basis as 

low-sulphur fuel oils because the residues 

from the petroleum imported from the Soviet 

Union were much richer in sulphur. 

The units for hydrogenation splitting in the 

third, light phase, characterised by high 

hydrogen consumption, were shut down at 

last in 1971. The operations for coal low 

temperature carbonisation and for the production 

of carbonisation tar were closed in 

1972. The production of hydrogen from 

semi-coke in the Winkler generators was 

finished at the same time. Since then, all 

tar processed is brought in from outside 

(from both domestic and foreign suppliers). 

The dominant raw material supplied for 

the production of fuels at ZáluÏí was petroleum, 

as was also the case in the largest 

Czechoslovak refinery, Slovnaft Bratislava, 

which was built in the 1960s and operated 

with an annual petroleum processing 

capacity of about 7 to 8 million tonnes. 

Starting in 1951, various types of petroleum 

were imported to ZáluÏí, initially 

from Austria, Bulgaria, Romania, and 

Hungary, later mainly from the Soviet 

Union. But various petroleum fractions (kerosene 

distillates) and various residues, 

from which fuels were distilled (in addition 

to fuel production from tar), were also being 

imported to ZáluÏí as early as 1946. 

At first, Soviet petroleum was imported 

from the Saratov and Mukhanovo oilfields 

(until 1964), later it came from Romash- 

42

kino. Since 1974–75, the refinery has 

been importing a blend of West Siberian 

petroleum, currently referred to as REB – 

Russian Export Blend. 

Petroleum was initially transported by 

rail. In 1962, the Druzhba petroleum pipeline 

was built, terminating in Bratislava; 

in 1965 it was extended to ZáluÏí. 

Petroleum was processed in units initially 

designed for the processing of tar, but tar 

processing and petroleum processing was 

carried out in separate units,- petroleum 

raw materials were never mixed with tars 

or their distillation products. 

The lighter fractions and the atmospheric 

residue – mazut – were distilled from the 

petroleum. Mazut served as feed for the 

liquid phase. This procedure was based 

on the same technology applied in tar 

processing. The only difference was that 

petroleum asphalts were more difficult to 

split and catalyst consumption was much 

higher. The splitting process and also 

(partial) desulphurisation took place in 

this phase. With some simplification, this 

process can be described (using contemporary 

terminology) as hydrocracking of 

petroleum residues with catalyst in suspension. 

The liquid phase product was distilled 

and the residue was returned to the 

process. The distillate was refined in the 

gas hydrorafination phase chambers. Distillation 

followed, yielding gasoline, kerosene 

and diesel fuel. The petrol was 

then refined with caustic soda lye. 

To enhance the processing of the imported 

petroleum and obtain a larger proportion 

of light products, in 1959 one of the atmospheric 

distillation units was redesig- 

43 

ned as a simple vacuum distillation unit 

(M-2 distillation unit). A broad-range of 

vacuum oil distillate and a residue – asphalt 

– were produced from mazut in that 

unit. The vacuum distillate was processed 

in two ways. First it was, for the most 

part, hydro-cracked in the third (splitting) 

chamber, where the catalyst filling was 

adjusted in such a way that there the first 

two reactors contained a refining catalyst 

and a splitting catalyst was in the last two 

reactors. The petrol fraction was the main 

product of the splitting process, whereas 

the yield of diesel fuel was lower. 

The process of high-pressure hydrogenation 

of the oil distillate on the refining catalyst 

was also introduced in 1959. The 

so-called oil hydrogenate product was 

then obtained after distilling-off the lighter 

fractions and the low-viscosity oil. The 

oil hydrogenate was supplied to the Koramo 

refinery in Kolín, where it was subject 

to de-waxing and additional refining 

with activated clay to produce high-qua- 

Crude Oil Pipeline, Druzhba Route, final state as of 1975 

lity base oil still being used for the production 

of lubricating oils today. 

Thus, in the late 1960s the structure of the 

hydrogenation plant gradually changed 

to a typical conversion-type petroleum refinery 

coupled with downstream petrochemical 

production processes. 

A 300-kiloton plant for the steam cracking 

of straight run naphtha and gases to 

ethylene and propylene was brought on 

line in 1964–1965. Next, operations 

downstream of the steam cracking processes 

were built, including ethanol and ethylbenzene 

synthesis and, in 1969, the 

Construction of the Druzhba pipeline

Litvínov plant fire brigade, 1960’s 

production of oxo-alcohols from propylene, 

carbon monoxide, and hydrogen 

using the Japanese modification of the 

oxo-process technology. 

From 1946, the enterprise was called Stalinovy 

závody (Stalin Works). In the early 

1960s (1962) it was renamed Chemické 

závody âeskoslovensko-sovûtského pfiátelství 

(CHZ âSSP – Czechoslovak-Soviet 

Friendship Chemical Works). In 1975 the 

name Chemopetrol, k.p., was put before 

CHZ âSSP. Chemopetrol was a group 

(then called “VHJ” = “production/economic 

unit”) that included a number of other 

plants such as, for example, Kauãuk Kralupy, 

Benzina, Koramo Kolín, Paramo 

Pardubice and several research and development 

institutes as well. 

The Atmospheric-Vacuum 

Distillation and Reforming Units 

In 1967, a new atmospheric-vacuum distillation 

unit (AVD) was commissioned in 

the refinery part of the plant. It had an 

annual processing capacity of 1 million 

tonnes of petroleum and produced three 

fractions of vacuum distillates of oil at different 

viscosity levels and with boiling points 

ranging from 360 to 580 °C. 

Hydrocracking of vacuum distillates to 

high boiling oils, which are supplied to 

lubricating oil refinery plants, yielded 

30–60 % lighter fractions, including gases. 

Thus the production of these lubricating 

oil feedstocks also contributed to the 

growth of the production of engine fuels. 

Asphalt as a residue from vacuum distillation 

had been marketed as road asphalt. 

Starting in 1973 it was also used in the 

place of the primary mazut as feedstock 

for partial oxidation in the Shell process 

of gasification to produce hydrogen and 

synthesis gas for ammonia and methanol 

production. This unit replaced the Winkler 

generators shut down in 1972. As to the 

high-pressure hydrogenation facilities, 

two liquid phase units were converted to 

medium pressure processes for desulphu- 

risation of the petroleum-based diesel fuel 

or desulphurisation of the broad petroleum 

fraction on a cobalt-molybdenum 

catalyst in once-through process. 

Processing of petroleum-based diesel blend 

with dephenolised tar light fraction, with its 

end boiling point of 225 °C, was introduced 

in the other two liquid phase units. The 

process took place first under high pressure 

and then at a medium pressure in the presence 

of catalysts. The catalysts were increasingly 

selective, which permitted reducing 

the hydrogenation of aromatics and cutting 

the consumption of the costly hydrogen. 

In the former benzination units (light, 

splitting phase), gradual improvements 

were made to the processes of diesel fuels 

and vacuum distillate hydrorefining and 

hydrocracking, first on the traditional 

tungsten/nickel sulfide catalysts or on 

combined hydrorefining and splitting catalysts. 

Later on, the processes and the catalysts 

continued developing towards the 

production of lubricating oils. This so called 

Litvínov technology is undoubtedly 

one of the last examples anywhere of 

Original cooling tower in block 33 

44

classical German high-pressure hydrogenation 

units being used. 

Early in the 1970s, a medium-pressure 

hydrorefining unit with a capacity of 

about 400 kilotons of diesel fuel was designed 

and built among old high-pressure 

units for the desulphurisation of the petroleum-based 

diesel fuel produced from 

the high-sulphur petroleum transported 

through the Druzhba pipeline. This standard 

hydrorefining technology unit with a 

cobalt/molybdenum catalyst is still used 

for desulphurisation, as an additional unit 

to complement the hydrorefining capacity. 

Liquid fuels, especially motor gasolines, 

were standardised in 1967–1968. The 

fuels previously manufactured under the 

Czechoslovak standards included several 

types of gasolines with research octane 

numbers of 55, 62, 72 and 84, diesel fuel, 

45 

Anniversary print 

Badge of an exemplary worker 

aviation kerosene designated LRX and later 

PL-3 to PL-6, liquefied propane-butane 

gases and a number of types of light and 

heavy petrol for industrial use especially 

as solvents. So called straight run naphtha 

for pyrolysis with boiling points between 

30–200 °C was supplied in quantities of 

up to 250 kilotons annually. Three types of 

gasolines have been produced since the 

1970s,- Regular 80 for old car types, Special 

90 and Super 96 for new ·koda cars 

and imported cars, whose numbers were 

beginning to rapidly increase during the 

1980s. 

Despite TEL addition at 0.53 up to 0.77 g 

Pb per litre of gasoline, the gasoline fractions 

being produced did not have sufficient 

quality. In addition, as the demand for 

the low-quality and easy-to-make Regular 

gasoline rapidly declined with the growing 

compression ratios of the cars produced 

all over the world, including in the 

Czechoslovak Republic, the quantity of 

suitable high octane fractions produced 

also became insufficient. 

It was obvious from the early post-war years 

that the comparatively large proportion 

of hydrogenation and hydrocracking 

processes in tar and crude oil processing 

provided good conditions for the production 

of low-sulphur diesel fuel, having a 

good cetane number. In 1953, the maximum 

sulphur content in summer and winter 

diesel fuel was 0.4 % by weight and in 

the special type of diesel fuel it was even 

as low as 0.2 %, although in other European 

countries sulphur levels of 0.7–1.0 % 

were still permitted at that time. 

The main problem of the ZáluÏí refinery in 

the early 1970s was the low octane number 

of gasolines produced because the refinery 

lacked reforming units (such as those operating 

in Slovnaft Bratislava since 1962–63). 

Neither of the two dehydrogenation units, 

equipped with the already outdated mo- 

Resort award

lybdenum catalyst, yielded a good high 

octane gasoline fraction. To remedy the 

situation, in 1969–1970, one of these 

units was converted in two stages to a 

new process – catalytic reforming – after 

a series of experiments, which had been 

begun back in 1961. The reconstructed 

facility contained three new reactors with 

proprietary platinum catalysts. This conversion 

came almost twenty years after 

the invention of this technology by Vladimír 

Haensel at the company UOP in the 

U.S.A. and several years after the first catalytic 

reforming unit was commissioned 

in Slovnaft Bratislava. This one was installed 

only after the delivery of just such a 

unit (designed by Czech Chemoprojekt 

Brno) to the Homs refinery in Syria. 

In 1973 the semi-regenerative unit installed 

at ZáluÏí already produced 150 kt of 

Jan Lichtenberg, senior operator, employed in several positions from 1961 

a high-octane (research octane number 

92) reformate with high-selectivity in annual 

production cycles. This was ten units 

higher than what it produced in 1970 and 

corresponded to what was then the European 

standard. The process had been developed 

by the Research Institute for Chemical 

Utilisation of Hydrocarbons in Litvínov 

(VÚCHVU) and had the trade mark 

“Conforming”. The new type of aluminabased 

platinum catalyst involved sophisticated 

modified processes of activation, 

stabilisation and reactivation, including 

the control of conditions in the reactors 

for achieving a high octane number 

(92–95) in annual operation periods. 

By using the reformate produced in this 

unit, it was already possible to meet the 

increasing demand for the Super 96 gasoline. 

In addition, the aromatic concent- 

rate from the reformate complemented the 

aromatic steam cracking gasoline feed for 

the production of C6-C8 aromatics (benzene, 

toluene, xylenes – BTX) on the new 

aromatic extraction unit commissioned in 

1968. 

The steam cracker gasoline obtained in the 

process of steam cracking of naphtha or of 

hydrocarbon gases was temporarily hydrogenated 

in two steps (in both the first 

and second stages) in the old gas-phase 

hydrogenation units equipped with electric 

pre-heaters. The highly aromatic product, 

now free of olefins and sulphur, was fed as 

the main input material to the new aromatic 

extraction unit. Pure aromatic hydrocarbons 

were produced in that unit, including 

benzene, toluene and xylenes intended 

for various petrochemical processes 

and for use as solvents. Diethylene glycol 

was used as solvent for the extraction unit 

for aromatic production (capacity of 50 kilotons 

of BTX aromatic hydrocarbons). After 

a serious accident in the 300-kiloton 

naphtha steam cracker in 1974, platformate 

(product of the catalytic reforming 

unit) became a substantial constituent of 

the feedstock for extraction. The extraction 

of the toxic benzene was at last excluded 

from the process and only pure toluene 

and a blend of ethylbenzene with xylenes 

have been produced since then. 

Alkylate-based aviation gasoline was first 

imported from Böhlen in Saxony after the 

shutdown of the light phase. The plant’s 

own fractions gradually replaced some of 

the imported products, and were used for 

the production of both the unleaded BL-78 

and high leaded BL-95. 

46

The use of asphalt residues to produce 

hydrogen and synthesis gases for ammonia 

and methanol synthesis reduced the 

quantity of high-sulphur heavy petroleum 

residues. So the Litvínov refinery gradually 

turned into an advanced type of conversion 

refinery. It also rapidly recovered 

from the consequences of the serious accident 

at the ethylene producing unit in 

1974. In that accident, on 19th July 1974, 

seventeen people died, and part of the 

equipment was severely damaged. The 

old steam cracker was never restarted, 

although not all of its parts were within 

the area hit by the explosion. Some of the 

undamaged parts, specifically the unit for 

steam cracker gasoline hydrogenation, 

were later used for other purposes. An 

increase in the production of reformate 

was achieved in 1974, for example, by 

transforming the second 120-kiloton dehydrogenation 

unit into a platforming 

unit, which had a 150-kiloton desulphurisation 

unit and a stripper were included 

in front of the reforming part. The result 

was an 80 % increase in the capacity of 

47 

Total number of registered cars in the Czech Republic since 1950 

4 mil. 

3 mil. 

2 mil. 

1 mil. 

0 

Personal cars 

Lorries 

1950 1955 1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 

the reforming units, to a total of 270 kilotons 

per year. The new Cherox bimetallic 

reforming catalyst, containing germanium 

in addition to platinum, was used in this 

redesigned unit from 1975. 

The NRL Compact Block and the 

New Hydrocracking Unit 

The rapidly growing motorisation in Czechoslovakia 

at the beginning of the 1980s 

necessitated further extension to the production 

capacities for liquid fuels in Litvínov, 

in addition to the three-million ton capacity 

refinery in Kralupy nad Vltavou 

newly started up in 1975 and the six- to 

nine-million refinery in Slovnaft Bratislava. 

This was due to a thirteen-fold increase in 

the number of cars, a five-fold increase in 

numbers of lorries and buses, four fold for 

motorbikes, and five-fold for self-propelled 

farm machines between 1950 and 1980. 

The so-called New Refinery Litvínov (NRL) 

was put in operation in 1981–1982, with 

about the same capacity as the similar 

New Kralupy Refinery. As a result, the 

quantity of petroleum processed in the Lit- 

vínov refinery increased to a level of up to 

5 million tonnes annually (in 1982) and, 

more importantly, the processes taking 

place in the new plant had better economic 

parameters than those reached in the 

old facilities, which were based on only 

partially redesigned tar-processing technology 

of German origin. 

Advertising leaflet, 1980’s

Gasoline distillation in block 34 

The NRL compact block consisted of atmospheric 

distillation unit (annual processing 

capacity 3 million tonnes of petroleum) 

and three medium-pressure hydrogenation 

units (capacity of 600 kilotons of 

naphtha, 300 kMt of kerosene, and 600 

kilotons of gas oil). Proprietary Litvínov 

catalysts (Cherox trade mark) were used 

for all the hydrorefining processes and for 

the reforming unit as well. The production 

of modern types of gasoline and other engine 

fuels was thus ready to go. All products 

were gradually improved by introducing 

the most suitable additives. 

Regular BA 80 gasoline production was entirely 

discontinued and the two remaining, 

BA 90 Special and BA 96 Super, both contained 

a sophisticated blend of high-performance 

lead alkyls (alkyls of tetraethyl and 

tetramethyl lead) and the Shell second-generation 

detergent additive called SAP. 

A unit for light straight-run naptha (pentanes 

and hexanes) isomerisation based 

on the UOP Penex technology was commissioned 

in 1983. Its annual capacity 

has been 120 kilotons. 

Isomerisation product with an octane 

number higher by 12 units was produced 

under very mild conditions. The addition 

of this product to gasoline blends spread 

the octane numbers evenly along the gasoline 

distillation curve, thus building the 

preconditions for the production of new 

gasoline types to comply with the European 

trend towards reducing emissions of 

CO, hydrocarbons and NOx from spark 

ignition car engines. The isomerisation 

product also became a valuable feed for 

producing modern isohexane solvents. 

Late in the 1980s, lead content in gasolines 

was gradually reduced to reflect developments 

in Western Europe. First it fell 

to 0.40, then to 0.25 and 0.15 g/litre; 

production of unleaded Natural 95 (Eurosuper) 

then followed, both for export and 

for the domestic market. 

In 1980, a new modern steam cracker 

replaced the old unit, which had broken 

down in 1974. It became one of the largest 

ethylene producing units in Central 

Europe. The new 450-kiloton unit produced 

liquid naphtha fractions, the C5 fraction, 

BTX fraction, and C9 fraction in 

large quantities as by-products. The BTX 

fraction was used in the production of 

benzene in the Pyrotol dealkylation unit, 

and the light C5 fraction and heavy C9 fraction became high-quality fractions 

used in gasoline production. These highoctane 

fractions thus became important 

constituents of the new low-leaded and 

unleaded gasoline. 

Late in the 1980s, gasoline production 

amounted to 600–700 kilotons annually. 

The low leaded types contained tetraethyl 

lead and were free of halogen scavengers 

(ethylene bromide and ethylene chloride). 

This resulted in a further gradual reduction 

of the engine emissions of lead compounds. 

At the same time, 1.3 to 1.4 million tonnes 

of diesel fuel and 70 kilotons of aviation 

kerosene were being produced, in 

addition to the 1.8 to 2.2 million tonnes 

of fuel oils. 

In 1983, sulphur content in diesel fuel was 

reduced to a maximum of 0.25 % by weight 

(the summer and winter types) and 

that in special diesel fuel was reduced to 

0.2 %. Diesel fuels containing a maximum 

of 0.15 % sulphur (by weight) were produced 

from 1987. 

48

Crude oil consumption in Czechoslovakia 

reached a high of 19 million tonnes in 

1980, up to 80 % of which was being used 

for energy purposes, i.e., in production of 

motor fuels, fuel gases and fuel oils. When 

petroleum prices increased, consumption 

declined to 13 million tonnes in the 1990s, 

half of which was processed by Czech refineries 

while the other half came out of 

Slovnaft Bratislava in Slovakia. Indigenous 

oil production from the wells on the Moravian-Slovak 

border, amounting to about 

100 kilotons annually, covered only 1 % of 

the consumption. Ninety percent of the 

petroleum used was imported from Russia 

through the Druzhba pipeline. During a 

short period towards the end of 1990 and 

in 1991, some Near East and African petroleum 

was also imported through the 

Service crane of hydro cracking chambers 

Adria pipeline via Yugoslavia and Hungary 

to southern Slovakia. 

Another important step in the transition to 

an advanced conversion refinery was taken 

when refinery production was linked 

with the steam cracker. This was brought 

about with the installation of a new hydrocracking 

unit, supplied by Universal Oil 

of California (UNOCAL), with a processing 

capacity of 0.8 million tonnes of vacuum 

distillates, which were produced in the new 

vacuum distillation unit simultaneously 

installed in 1987. Since then, the hydrocracking 

product residue (called hydrowax) 

produced in that unit, which has a 

boiling point between 360–550 °C, has 

been the third most important feedstock for 

the steam cracker, after the straight-run 

naphtha (called virgin naphtha) and gas 

oil. The yields of ethylene and propylene 

produced during the pyrolysis of the hydrocracked 

vacuum distillate are similar to 

those obtained during the processing of 

naphtha. 

During the hydrocracking process, the 

wide-range vacuum distillate product is 

first refined to an intermediate product 

low in nitrogen and sulphur content under 

a pressure of 17 MPa in the first reactor 

in the presence of hydrogen on non-splitting 

catalyst. Then, the main hydrogenation 

splitting process takes place on another 

catalyst in the second reactor. With 

the basic 40–45 % conversion and a total 

volumetric speed of 0.8 h-1 , the hydrocracking 

product has satisfactory characteristics 

as feedstock for steam cracking. 

The atmospheric distillates, light and 

heavy gasoline, and diesel fuel from the 

hydrocracking unit represent high-quality 

constituents of fuel blends (especially after 

appropriate quality modifications). The 

cyclanic-heavy naphtha is reformed with 

advantage to a high-octane product 

(RON 95). Over 2.5 % (by weight) of hydrogen 

is also produced in this process. 

The isoparaffinic and cyclanic diesel fuel 

is totally sulphur-free and serves as the 

highest-quality constituent for the new 

product, low-sulphur diesel fuel containing 

less than 0.05 % sulphur with superior 

low-temperature characteristics. 

Continuous Catalytic Reforming 

and the Visbreaker Units 

The various technological processes were 

further improved in the early 1990s, leading 

to the production of products with 

50

higher quality parameters. An effective deisopentaniser 

for light naphtha was installed 

in 1991, serving to separate 90–95 % 

isopentane with an RON about 90 (as a 

useful constituent of high-octane unleaded 

gasoline types), in front of the isomerisation 

unit. The isomerisation unit’s production 

capacity was thus raised by 15–20 %. 

Since 1991, a high-rhenium catalyst 

(Cherox 39-23) has been used in the 

300-kiloton reforming. It has higher stability, 

and the unit works reliably in two to 

three-year operating cycles. Hydrorefining 

catalysts for medium distillates have 

also been improved, enhancing the 

51 

desulphurisation of the products, particularly 

diesel fuel. 

A substantial improvement has also been 

achieved in the production of solvents. 

Environmentally safe isohexane concentrates, 

referred to as trade mark ISEX, are 

derived from the isomerisation product of 

the Penex process. They replace the n-hexane 

products, which have been recently 

found to be very harmful to human health. 

Another improvement in the refinery technologies 

came about with the installation 

of a 400-kiloton low-pressure reforming 

unit with continuous catalyst regeneration 

(CCR), bought from Institut Français du 

Used catalysts 

Pétrole (IFP). Since 1995, this unit has 

been producing reformate at yields higher 

by 5–6 % (by weight) and with a high octane 

number (RON about 100). The quantity 

of the hydrogen produced has been 

increased by 50–70 %, compared with 

the quantity recovered in the older medium-pressure 

semi-regenerative unit. 

On 31th December 1995, the refinery 

assets (without the POX – the mazut gasification 

unit) were separated from the 

Litvínov refinery/petrochemical complex 

and âeská rafinérská was formed. This 

separation was more difficult in Litvínov 

than in Kralupy because of the organic

integration of the individual refinery operations 

within what then was known as 

Chemopetrol. The situation there was further 

complicated by the interconnection of 

those operations in terms of the numerous 

flows of raw materials, intermediate products, 

electricity, and steam, and of their 

uniform waste-water treatment system 

and service support systems. 

The first projects implemented by âeská 

rafinérská included the first stage of the 

safety improvement of the high-pressure 

hydrogenation chambers designed to reduce 

the risk of sulphane gas leakage. 

The preparations for the “Stay in Business“ 

comprehensive modernisation programme 

were complicated and suffered 

delays due to a fire at fuel tank farm E, F, 

G, H and one in the hydrocracking unit in 

November and December 1996. Production 

could only be resumed after several 

days. Thanks to the excellent response of 

fire brigades from both Bohemia and Moravia, 

there were no casualties and no 

Visbreaker, thermal cracking of petroleum residua, on stream since 1999 

more serious damage to property. The 

accident did accelerate extensive reconstruction 

of the storages and the engine 

fuel blending unit, which was later complemented 

by equipment for the recuperation 

of hydrocarbon gases. 

To complete the technological cycle of the 

Litvínov refinery and to eliminate the production 

of unmarketable high-sulphur fuel 

oils, plans were made to build a visbreaking 

unit for the cracking of highest petroleum 

fractions. The unit, which has a daily 

52

processing capacity of 2,500 tonnes of 

vacuum residue and is based on the Shell 

SIOP technology, provides components for 

blending motor fuels or low-sulphur fuel 

oils. It also produces a distillation residue, 

which is fed as raw material to the partial 

oxidation unit for hydrogen production. 

Construction on the visbreaking unit began 

in August 1998, test operations were launched 

fourteen months later, in October 

1999. All the design parameters were met 

in January 2000. The unit is controlled 

from a new control room, in which control 

of other units of the Litvínov refinery has 

also been gradually concentrated. 

The stay-in-business investment project 

and other modernisation projects as well 

as environmental measures (LPG storage 

facilities, double ceilings of the storage 

tanks, steam recuperation etc.) have resulted 

in the creation of a modern European 

conversion refinery. 

The main products of the Litvínov refinery 

are feedstocks for Chemopetrol’s petrochemical 

production – for the ethylene unit 

with the refurbished polymerisation units 

as well as for the partial oxidation unit for 

hydrogen production. Motor fuels (gasoline, 

diesel fuel), LPG, and low-sulphur fuel 

oils represent the dominant group of refinery 

products. The sale of road paving 

asphalt is a profitable area. The production 

of aromatics and solvents was gradually 

phased out due to rather poor commercial 

results. 

The Litvínov refinery uses the sales routes 

available to it in equal measure: the product 

pipelines, the rail tank cars, as well 

as the road terminal. 

53 

As early as 2001 – thanks to its sufficient 

hydrogenation capacity – the Litvínov refinery 

became capable to meet its customers’ 

requirements for low-sulphur fuels 

in compliance with EU regulations 

through implementation of its Segregated 

Fuels project. Since October 2004 whole 

range of automotive fuels have been 

made in compliance with quality requirement 

of sulphur content bellow 50 ppm as 

result of implementation of several projects 

of the “Clean Fuel” program. 

Meeting the fuel quality requirements is 

the key objective at present, and it will remain 

so in the remaining years of the first 

decade of the new century. This will involve 

various technological modifications 

and improvements in the area of naphtha 

fraction processing as well as Diesel fuel 

production. 

The Litvínov refinery is the largest crude oil 

processing plant in the Czech Republic and 

it is well positioned to be a competitive fuel 

producer on a European scale. 

Control Room in Litvínov – overall view

Evolution of the Litvínov enterprise’s name 

Year Name 

1939–1945 Sudetenländische Treibstoffwerke Maltheusen (ZáluÏí) 

1945–1946 âeskoslovenská továrna na motorová paliva a.s. Horní Litvínov 

1946–1962 Stalinovy závody n.p. ZáluÏí u Mostu 

1962–1965 Chemické závody SâSP 

1965–1975 Závody na zpracování ropy a uhlí – CHZ âSSP 

1975–1990 Chemopetrol k.p. Chemické závody âSSP Litvínov 

1990–1991 CHZ âSSP s.p. Litvínov 

1991–1994 Chemopetrol s.p. Litvínov 

from 1994 Chemopetrol, a.s., Litvínov 

from 1996 refinery part: âESKÁ RAFINÉRSKÁ, a.s., Litvínov 

Note 

The village of ZáluÏí, situated between the towns of Most and Litvínov, disappeared when the construction of the petrochemical part of 

the Litvínov works was started. The territory concerned was included in the cadastral area of Litvínov in the early 1970s. 

Operation Managers (VP 03) of the Litvínov Works – refinery section 

From 1951 the below supervisors were managers of the VP 03, in which tars and crude oils were processed to motor fuels and to other 

liquid and gaseous fuels also to technical solvents, aromatics, ammonia and methanol. 

1. Bohumír Valdauf 1951–1954 

2. Jan Hasík 1954–1956 

3. Václav ·vandrlík 1956 

4. Zdenûk Kopelent 1957–1958 

5. Lumír ·varc 1958–1965 

6. Karel Sklenáfi 1965–1977 

7. Vlastimil Kadlec 1977–1978 

8. Karel Soukup 1979–1983 

9. Franti‰ek Srb 1984–1986 

10. Václav Raitr 1987–1993 

11. ·tûpán Pecka 1993–1995 

12. Milan Vyskoãil 1995–1996 

13. Václav Raitr since 1996 

Note 

The executive officers (of the company as a whole) had a much broader area of responsibility, covering also non-refinery and non-chemical 

units. They are not listed here because direct management of the production of automotive and other fuels represented a relatively 

smaller part of their work and responsibility. 

54

Litvínov plant yield profile from 2002 

Chronological operation scheme of main parts in Litvínov plant 

55 

Liquified Petroleum Gases 0.4 % 

Automotive Gasoline 15.9 % 

Diesel Oil 33.6 % 

Heating Oils 1.3 % 

Asphalt 7.2 % 

Oil Hydrogenates 0.8 % 

Sulphur 1.1 % 

Petrochemical feedstocks 

LPG 2.0 % 

Virgin Naphtha 9.7 % 

Gas Oils 3.2 % 

Hydrocrackate 15.5 % 

Petroleum Residue for POX 9.1 % 

From To Production linking up or continuing 

Brown coal processing 1943 1972 

Other tars 1946 1998 

Tar production 1941 1971 

Three-stage tar hydrogenation processing 1941 1963 followed by simplified tar processing 

Simplified tar processing 1963 1998 

Crude oil processing 1951 up-to-date 

Polypropylene 1974 up-to-date 

Polyethylene 1974 up-to-date 

Methanol 1949 1988 

Ammonia 1952 up-to-date 

Oxoalcohols 1969 up-to-date 

Ethylbenzene 1969 up-to-date 

Ethanol 1964 1995 temporary shut down 1997 back in operation 

Benzene 1968 up-to-date 

Old steam cracker 1964 1974 followed by new steam cracker 

New steam cracker 1980 up-to-date 

Heating oil production 1955 up-to-date 

Asphalt production 1959 up-to-date 

Phenols 1946 2003

Crude Oil Refinery 

in Kralupy nad Vltavou

View of Kralupy (Kerosene) refinery before World War I. 

Crude Oil Refinery 

in Kralupy nad Vltavou 

▲ 

View of Kralupy refinery, painted by Lev ·imák, 

Museum of Kralupy nad Vltavou 

From Lederer a spol. to the NRK 

(New Refinery Kralupy) 

Between the two World Wars and during 

the period of the Protectorate of Bohemia 

and Moravia (1939–1945), the Lederer 

& Co. refinery in Kralupy nad Vltavou followed 

the pattern of the other Czech refineries. 

The yellow-coloured petrol stations 

of the Kralupy “Petrolka” with the inscription 

“Kralupol” were spread out all over 

the country after World War I. Refinery 

processing capacity increased two and a 

half times to reach 50,000 tonnes per 

year, and its production grew very quickly 

before the threat of war. During the war, 

the Kralupy plant was included in the organisation 

of the German Benzin-Benzol- 

Verband group with its head office in 

Bochum. It was the smallest refinery in the 

whole Protectorate, and as a result, it was 

shut down during 1942. Most of its employees 

were sent to work at refineries in 

Germany. The only activities that continued 

in Kralupy were storage and distribution, 

which themselves became almost 

negligible as the end of the war approached. 

Nevertheless, the refinery was kept 

58

in working order, so when most of the 

German refineries were destroyed by air 

raids in 1944, the group decided to resume 

fuel production in Kralupy nad Vltavou. 

They began sending people and raw 

materials to the Kralupy refinery but progress 

was slow, and the plant would probably 

not have been brought back on-line 

before the end of the war anyway. Even 

years after the end of the war, very little 

reliable information was available about 

the first air raid, in which the Kralupy 

refinery was supposed to have been bombed. 

An air-raid did take place on 28th December 1944 in which the territory of 

the Protectorate was bombed by strong US 

air force units, and some of the bombs did 

fall a few kilometres north of the town Kralupy 

nad Vltavou. The situation after the 

second air raid (22nd March 1945) was 

very different. The bombing of the Kralupy 

refinery was part of a huge air attack by 

the 15th US Air Force, which destroyed fuel 

production and storage capacities in Bohemia 

and other sites in northern Italy and 

southern Germany. Both the refinery and 

the town Kralupy were heavily damaged. 

In the 1950s the refinery served for the regeneration 

of used motor oils. The refinery 

was not restored at its original site, and 

the only thing the new Kralupy refinery 

has in common with the destroyed plant is 

the name. The name “Kralupol” re-appeared 

in the 1990s, denoting a company distributing 

fuel gases (LPG) and fuel oils. 

■ 

In 1965, the State Planning Commission 

conducted a study that concluded that in 

59 

order to maintain a sufficient refinery capacity 

to support the rapid growth of the 

country’s motorisation it would be necessary 

to build a new refinery by 1980. 

Twenty sites in Central Bohemia were considered 

as potential locations for what was 

called the New Refinery Bohemia (with a 

projected petroleum processing capacity of 

6 million tonnes), but were rejected, mainly 

for water management reasons. In 1966, 

the planners accepted the proposal presented 

by Kauãuk National Enterprise to build 

a refinery on Kauãuk’s land in Kralupy. The 

project was known as the New Refinery 

Kralupy (NRK). Two identical units were to 

be built, each with an annual capacity of 

3 million tonnes of petroleum. An interval 

was to be left between the construction of 

the first and the second units. Design specifications 

were created to meet the most 

Tanks after air raid, 1945 

recent requirements, reflecting world practices 

and conditions of the time. Siberian 

petroleum was to be used as feedstock, 

and the product range was to include all 

the motor fuels and fuel oils, based on the 

standards then in force. Hydrogenation 

was to be the exclusive refining process for 

all the distillate fractions. A reforming unit 

was to be built to provide high-octane gasoline 

fraction and hydrogen. The refinery 

Transport of products between the wars

was to be designed as a compact unit so 

as to avoid producing any solid waste requiring 

complicated disposal or any contaminated 

waste-waters. It was assumed 

that the refinery would be computer-controlled 

as an integrated entity and that power 

would be utilised at a high efficiency 

rate. The crude oil was to be supplied by 

pipeline, and the products were to be dispatched 

via product pipelines and through 

the road and rail network. A chimney 

160 m tall was to be built in order to dispose 

of gases containing SO2 produced 

while burning sulphur-containing mazut 

(heating oil). 

The New Refinery Kralupy (NRK). 

The technological plan for the new operation 

included the design, construction, 

and commissioning of the refinery in the 

first half of the 1970s. 

Chemoprojekt Brno prepared the overall 

design, some partial design work was carried 

out by KSB Brno and by the companies 

Jiskoot and Premaberg. The company 

Foster-Wheeler provided consultation services. 

Most of the civil, mechanical, and 

Preparation of land for construction in the 1950’s 

electrical engineering work,- including the 

utilities and the I & C work,- was done by 

Czech and Slovak companies. 

The New Kralupy Refinery (NRK), with its 

annual petroleum processing capacity of 

3 million tonnes, was commissioned in 

1975. The fuel refinery had no splitting 

process unit – it relied only on the hydrogenation 

refining of motor fuels and reforming 

of heavy straight run naphtha 

(hydroskimming) – and worked as a compact 

manufacturing unit with economical 

heat recuperation. There was no storage 

for intermediate products. All intermediates 

passed in hot condition on to further 

processing stages. In addition, the waste 

heat from some products served in the 

production of process steam. High-sulphur 

west-Siberian crude oil, supplied 

through a line branching off the Druzhba 

petroleum pipeline, was processed in the 

refinery, and its product range included 

motor fuels and fuel oils. 

The installations included facilities for atmospheric 

distillation of petroleum and 

for the hydrorafination of the broad petrol 

fraction, the kerosene fraction, and gas 

oil. They also included a catalytic reforming 

unit and equipment for refinery gas 

desulphurisation, gas separation, sulphur 

production using the Claus process, and 

for automatic blending of liquid fuels. In 

addition, there was an automated filling 

ramp for rail tank cars. 

An installation for light naphtha isomerisation 

that used the Penex process was 

built in the middle1990s and commissioned 

in January 1997. 

The technology of petroleum processing in 

Kralupy nad Vltavou consisted of atmospheric 

distillation, including front-end 

electrostatic desalting with a horizontal 

dehydrator. Before desalting, the petroleum 

was preheated in heat exchangers 

(using distillation products) to 130 °C. At 

that temperature, the salt in crude oil was 

dissolved in water, and the water and petroleum 

layers were then separated in an 

60

electrostatic field. The distillation column, 

6.2 metres in diameter, had additional 

reflux columns on its sides. The heat needed 

for the distillation was provided by 

two cylinder furnaces with an output of 

100 million kJ/h and equipped with combined 

burners for gaseous and liquid fuels. 

A broad naphtha fraction (up to 

180 °C) was collected from the head of 

the column. A kerosene fraction, two gas 

oil fractions (GO I and GO II), and light 

fuel oil were collected from the side of the 

column (top-down). The kerosene and fuel 

oil went directly to the hydrogenation 

units without cooling and without intermediate 

storage. The residue from the atmospheric 

column was marketed as heavy 

fuel oil – mazut. 

The broad naphtha fraction, including the 

dissolved gases, passed into the hydrorafination 

unit (capacity 600 kilotons per 

year). The pressure in the reactor part of 

the unit was 3 Mpa, and the temperature 

inside the reactor was up to 330 °C. The 

temperature was limited in order to prevent 

secondary production of mercaptans. 

The stripping column (which served to displace 

light hydrocarbons and sulphane) 

was heated by a cylinder furnace. The 

hydrogenated naphtha, which was obtained 

from the stripping process and was 

cleaned by removal of the gases and sulphane, 

went hot to the redistillation column, 

which was part of the atmospheric 

petroleum distillation unit. This column 

was heated with re-boilers, linked 

(through effective heat recuperation) with 

the re-boilers of the two atmospheric distillation 

side columns. The distillate from 

61 

the redistillation column (the light naphtha 

fraction with a boiling point of up to 

70 °C) went to the isomerisation unit, 

where the n-alkanes (pentane a hexane) it 

contained were isomerised to isoalkanes 

by the Penex process to increase the octane 

number. The Penex process unit (with 

an annual processing capacity of 170 kilotons) 

worked without a circulation compressor 

under 3 MPa of pressure and at a 

reaction temperature of 110–130 °C, yielding 

an isomerisate with a research octane 

number 83. 

Distillation bottom products from the redistillation 

column – the naphtha fraction 

with a boiling point of 90–180 °C and 

with a sulphur content under 0.5 ppm – 

were then passed (without cooling) to the 

Surveying the site of the future plant on the former air field of Kralupy 

catalytic reforming unit. The side cut, boiling 

at a temperature of up to 85 °C (or 

up to 105 °C, respectively) was either added 

directly to the gasolines or was marketed 

as straight run naptha to be fed as 

input material to the steam cracker for the 

production of ethylene and propylene in 

petrochemical plant in Litvínov. 

The unit for the hydrorafination of kerosene 

(annual capacity of 300 kilotons) 

was used both for the refining of aviation 

kerosene and for the refining of the kerosene 

fraction to be added to diesel fuel 

(distillation range boiling from 150 °C 

and 180 °C, respectively) in turns. The 

desulphurised kerosene from the bottom 

of the redistillation column contained up 

to 0.02 % sulphur.

The gas oil hydrogenation unit (annual 

capacity of 800 kilotons) yielded hydrogenated 

gas oil with a sulphur-content 

of 0.05 %. 

The two hydrorafination units worked under 

a pressure of 3.5 and 4 MPa and 

at temperatures of 330–340 °C and 

340–350 °C respectively. The process 

was catalysed by a Co-Mo catalyst (both 

the cobalt and molybdenum were in the 

form of sulphides on alumina). 

The refinery sulphur gases from all the 

hydrogenation processes were supplied to 

the gas desulphurisation unit where the 

gaseous fraction was washed in the ab- 

Kauãuk canteen, administrative building and medical centre in the 1970’s 

sorption column, and the liquid gases 

were washed in an extraction column, 

using an aqueous solution of diethanolamine. 

The sulphane was processed (after 

desorption) in the Claus unit to yield sulphur, 

which was transported (in liquid state) 

to the chemical plant Spolana in Neratovice, 

where it was used for the production 

of sulphuric acid. The desulphurised gases 

were cut down on a gas separation unit 

into their individual constituents, including 

normal butane and isobutane. 

The heavy naphtha fraction from the redistillation 

column went to the catalytic reforming 

unit with a designed annual ca- 

pacity of 300 kilotons, later increased to 

400 kilotons. The unit initially had three 

and later four reactors filled with a bimetallic 

(platinum-rhenium) catalyst from the 

Dutch company Ketjen. It worked under a 

pressure of 2.5 MPa and at a reaction 

temperature of 500 °C. The circulating 

gas was led to the reactors by means of a 

turbocompressor via heat exchangers and 

a three-chamber preheating furnace for 

heating before the individual reactors. 

The direct hot feed from the redistillation 

column to the catalytic reforming unit 

made it possible to maintain the required 

low water content in the feed material, 

and this supported the stability of chlorine 

on the catalyst. In the exceptional case of 

using cooled feedstock from the storage 

tank, the feed was led to the reforming 

unit over the naphtha redistillation column 

in order to dry the material. The product 

produced, usually called reformate, had a 

research octane number 92–95. 

In 1981, a methyl-tertiary-butyl-ether 

(MTBE) production unit, using the process 

of etherification of isobutylene from C4 pyrolysis 

fraction by methanol, was commissioned. 

This provided better conditions for 

production of a wider range of products, 

especially unleaded gasoline. In addition, 

an adjustment was made in the technological 

process to make it possible to introduce 

the production of additivated aviation jet 

fuel, referred to as PL-6. 

The fuel refinery built in Kralupy nad Vltavou 

had good technological process equipment 

meeting the requirements for a standard 

hydroskimming fuel refinery. With the 

desulphurisation of all naphtha, kerosene, 

62

and gas oil, with the automatic blending of 

gasoline and diesel fuel, computer control 

of selected operating parameters, and the 

direct continuity between the processes 

needing no intermediate storage, the Kralupy 

refinery became the second leading 

producer of motor fuels among Czech refineries. 

Thanks to the quality of its production 

processes, the Kralupy refinery was 

able to produce diesel fuel with a sulphur 

content of less than 0.05 %, referred to as 

City Diesel. As for gasoline, NRK was able 

to reduce lead content in petrol to 0.15 

Pb/litre at the maximum, and later it began 

production of the unleaded Natural 95 

petrol containing MTBE and isomerisate. 

The quality of aviation kerosene has been 

high enough from the very beginning to 

meet the requirements of all air carriers. As 

a result, the New Refinery Kralupy has 

been the main supplier of aviation fuel to 

the Prague-Ruzynû Airport. 

No major failures leading to significant 

economic or environmental damages 

have ever occurred in the refinery. This is 

Storage construction 

63 

due to the good overall concept and design 

of the plant and to the expertise and 

discipline of employees. 

Connection to the MERO Crude 

Oil Pipeline and Construction of 

the FCC Unit 

In 1996, the refinery was connected to 

the new petroleum pipeline from Ingolstadt 

(Germany), run by IKL company. 

This has made it possible to provide the 

separate supply of the low-sulphur petroleum 

needed for the production of lowsulphur 

fuel oils. 

After negotiations with foreign shareholders, 

the refinery, along with its effluent treatment 

plant, road and rail dispatch centres, 

and the MTBE unit, was separated from 

the Kauãuk group, and since 1st January 

1996 it has been part of âeská rafinérská. 

Most of the employees of the operating departments 

and service support units were 

also transferred to the new company. 

The construction of a unit for isomerisation 

of the C5/C6 fraction with the redistillation 

of the reformate was completed in January 

1997. The contract for that project had already 

been signed by Kauãuk, which had 

also started the construction work. 

âeská rafinérská soon launched an extensive 

“Stay in Business” programme, focused 

on improving operating reliability, environmental 

protection, and labour and 

health safety. Storage tanks were doublesealed, 

the road and rail dispatch centres 

were refurbished, and steam recuperation 

units were built. 

The need to build a unit for the bottom-ofthe-barrel 

processing of petroleum was 

LPG tank farm 

identified as the key to further development 

and enhancement of the competitiveness 

of the refinery (which had been producing 

up to 50 % of its output as atmospheric 

residue). 

Specialists of âeská rafinérská, co-operating 

with its shareholders’ experts, reviewed 

the studies that had already been 

carried out and updated their contents 

where necessary. This work resulted in a 

recommendation for the Shareholders to 

approve the construction of a fluid catalytic 

cracking unit with vacuum distillation, 

based on a UOP technology, with a 

Ing. Pavel Ká‰, Builder of NRK

Fluid catalytic cracker (FCC) in Kralupy 

capacity of 3,800 tonnes of raw material 

per day. Construction began in June 1999 

and continued for 26 months, until March 

2001. Test operation started in April 2001. 

After successful load tests, the facility was 

put into continuous operation. 

The contractor was the Dutch company Fluor 

Daniel. Modifications in those operations of 

the existing refinery affected by the project 

were performed by ABB Lummus Global. 

The material consumed during the construction 

included the following: 3,500 tonnes 

of structural steel, 100 km of pipes, 

300 km of cables (for I & C systems), and 

7,800 tonnes of concrete. During the peak 

period of construction, in summer 2000, 

there were up to 1,500 people working at 

the site on the FCC project. With the exception 

of suppliers of highly specialised 

equipment, most of the subcontractors 

were Czech firms. 

After the completion of the FCC unit and its 

integration into the existing refinery struc- 

ture, the Kralupy refinery now produces 

the fuel gases propane/butane and propylene 

of polymeration purity grade. Motor 

fuels – gasoline and diesel fuel – are primarily 

dispatched from the road-dispatching 

centre. Thanks to its location the 

Kralupy refinery is predestined to serve as 

a fuel supplier to motorists in Prague and 

Central Bohemia. Its JET A1 aviation kerosene 

is transported by rail to the international 

airport in Prague-Ruzynû. Lowsulphur 

fuel oils, MTBE, and elementary 

sulphur complement its product range. The 

Kauãuk company supplies electricity and 

vapour to the hydroskimming refinery and 

the FCC unit, while the refinery, in turn, 

supplies excess fuel oil from FCC to Kauãuk. 

The refinery has an effluent treatment 

plant of its own and does not produce any 

solid waste. The spent catalyst is treated 

and processed on a contractual basis. 

The Kralupy refinery has become a modern 

fuel production complex, which meets 

high requirements for product quality, 

operating reliability, labour and health safety, 

and environmental protection under 

the âSN ISO 9001 and âSN ISO 14001 

standards. Since 2001 the company is focusing 

on meeting the requirements of the 

“Clean Fuel” program. Taken measures 

allowing fulfillment of requirement of 

“Clean Fuels Program 2005” has been 

implemented in time and since October 

2004 motor fuels with a sulphur content of 

up to 50 ppm were fully available for the 

market. The revamp of gasoil hydroteater 

FCC inauguration, Ministr M. Grégr 

and CEO I. Ottis, 2001 

64

unit and construction of 3cut splitter capable 

of separating the naphtha intermediate 

coming from the FCC unit into several socalled 

cuts as a way to effective desulphuri- 

Kralupy plant yield profile from 2002 

Managers of the New Refinery Kralupy (NRK) 

65 

zation was significant parts of the program. 

A number of other parallel measures to improve 

the quality and environmental protection 

systems are and will be underway. 

Total gases 10.97 % 

– including propylene 1.61 % 

– including LPG for Chemopetrol 0.78 % 

Automotive gasoline 33.17 % 

Diesel oil 35.15 % 

Jet kerosene 6.77 % 

Heat oils 10.63 % 

Sulphur 0.18 % 

Virgin naphtha for Chemopetrol 3.13 % 

1. Pavel Ká‰, Manager of NRK (VS III) 1967–1976 

2. Milo‰ Podrazil, Manager of VS III 1976–1980 

3. Jaroslav Mare‰, Manager of Operation III 1980–1983 

4. Ivan Ottis, Manager of Operation III 1983–1987 

5. Jifií Tlust˘, Manager of Operation III 1987–1992 

6. Jaroslav Slavík, Director of Refinery Division 1992–1994 

7. Ivan Ottis, Director of Refinery Division 1994–1995 

8. Karel Boháãek, Manager of Kralupy Refinery Section 1996–1998 

9. Josef Krch, Manager of Kralupy Refinery Section since 1998 

Note: 

Until 1995, the New Rafinery Kralupy (NRK) was part of Kauãuk Kralupy, whose main products were plastics. 

The design work on the NRK began in 1967. P. Ká‰ was designated manager of the new operation at that time. Over the entire 1975–1995 period, the organisational 

position of NRK remained essentially unchanged. The NRK was first a so-called Production Complex, then a Production Plant (analogous to the Litvínov organisational 

structure), and finally, a Division. 

As in Litvínov, the Kralupy refinery has already produced several generations of refinery experts and highly skilled workers. 

Most of Kauãuk’s executive officers had a plastics and polymers background and did not have a direct controlling influence on the running of the refinery. This is why 

the above list only includes the persons with immediate responsibility for the management of the refinery.

Development of Other 

Czech Refineries since 

the End of World War II

Development of Other 

Czech Refineries since 

the End of World War II 

After World War II, there were still three 

smaller refineries in the territory of the 

future Czech Republic. Over the second 

half of the 20th century, these three were 

linked within the framework of the central 

▲ 

Crude oil distiller in Kralupy 

VHJ CHEMOPETROL information leaflet, 1970’s 

planning up with the development strategy 

of Chemické závody Litvínov and 

Slovnaft Bratislava, which were being built 

into a structure of integrated refinery/petrochemical 

entities producing 

fuels, petrochemical products, and special 

chemicals. Both of these larger entities 

had an extensive infrastructure, ranging 

from utilities to their own R&D institute. 

After the construction of the new refinery 

in Kralupy (which, under the central plan, 

focussed on fuels and fuel oils), the product 

ranges of the smaller refineries in 

Pardubice, Kolín and Ostrava were modified 

and their focus shifted towards production 

of lubricants and certain special 

products. Organisationally, all were part 

of VHJ SdruÏení rafinérií minerálních olejÛ 

(Production and Economic Unit – Association 

of Mineral Oil Refineries). The association 

functioned as a basis of Chemopetrol 

Group, which spanned the whole refinery/petrochemical 

sector from 1970 until 

its transformation into a state enterprise 

late in the 1980s. The Chemopetrol trademark 

was taken over by what was then 

Chemické závody âSSP (Czech-Soviet Friendship 

Chemical Works) at Litvínov. 

68

Mineral Oil Refinery in Pardubice 

– PARAMO 

This refinery was established as Fantovy 

závody in Pardubice in 1889 and continued 

developing in the inter-war period. 

However, after repeated bombings towards 

the end of the war, in May 1945 it 

was almost completely destroyed. 

Repair work on the atmospheric and vacuum 

distillation units and on the solventdewaxing 

unit began immediately after 

the end of the war. The parts of the plant 

that had been completely destroyed by 

the bombing were built anew, including 

the selective refining unit, the warm-clay 

refining unit, the press dewaxing unit, the 

sweat boxes, and the acid refining unit. A 

filtrate distillation facility was added in 

1947. A petrol evaporator was put in 

operation in 1955 in order to improve the 

performance of the atmospheric distillation 

unit. Propane-based equipment for 

the deasphalting of the vacuum residue 

was installed based on a proprietary project. 

The extraction column and high-pressure 

distillation columns were assembled 

in the refinery’s own workshops from the 

pressure vessels decommissioned in the 

Stalin Works at ZáluÏí because of the damage 

caused during the air raids. 

The PARAMO mineral oils refinery in Pardubice 

(the name PARAMO has been used 

since 1951) became an exclusive producer 

of, particularly, special asphalts (in addition 

to the production of lubricating oils). 

From1962–1965 the refinery belonged to 

Chemické závody âSSP (the Czechoslovak- 

Soviet Friendship Chemical Works) but as 

of 1 January 1966 it has remained auto- 

69 

nomous within the framework of “VHJ Závody 

pro zpracování ropy a uhlí” (Production 

and Economic Unit – Petroleum and 

Coal Processing Works), which later became 

VHJ Chemopetrol Praha Group. 

In 1970 a decision was taken to reconstruct 

or refurbish equipment that had become 

outdated and failed to meet fire safety 

requirements. In the 1980’s the plant 

processed only high-sulphur crude oil 

from the Druzhba pipeline and a small 

quantity of the petroleum from southern 

Moravia. 

A new atmospheric distillation unit (annual 

processing capacity one million tonnes 

of petroleum) was commissioned in 

1973. The production of fuels, including 

petrol, diesel fuel and also fuel oils, was 

markedly increased in the 1970s. The 

crude oil processed at that time included 

primarily Austrian paraffinic and non-paraffinic 

petroleum, but also local (Moravian) 

paraffinic petroleum, Soviet petroleum 

from the Saratov oilfields, as well as 

smaller quantities of the high-sulphur petroleum 

from the foothills of the Urals (“a 

second Baku”), supplied through the 

Druzhba pipeline. 

The individual operations of the refinery 

were gradually streamlined and improved. 

In the selective refining process the 

centrifuges were replaced by a propping 

extraction column and later by a column 

with rotating discs. The production of 

base oils was thus increased by 25 %. In 

the solvent-dewaxing unit, a pressure 

stage was included at the front end of the 

distillation process and vacuum filters, 

which raised the capacity by 40 %, later 

PARAMO products 

replaced the centrifuges. A solvent with 

better environmental parameters (a mixture 

of methylethyl ketone and toluene) 

was introduced in 1991. 

Installation of a diesel fuel vacuum-distillation 

and hydrorefining unit, combined 

with hydrogen production based on steam 

reforming of natural gas and two-stage 

desulphurisation with sulphur production 

using the Claus process, was a unique 

project, and one of crucial importance for 

the refinery’s future operation. With this 

unit, the refinery is able to produce a modern 

type of diesel fuel with a maximum 

sulphur content of 0.05 % and a low-sulphur 

fuel oil with a sulphur content of up to 

0.1 %. These products, taken together 

with the continued production of motor 

oils under the TRYSK brand name and 

with asphalts and asphalt products, represent 

the current PARAMO product range. 

PARAMO was privatised in the second 

wave of the voucher privatization scheme 

in 1993–1994. More than a 70 % interest 

went to the National Property Fund of the 

Czech Republic. UNIPETROL bought this 

interest in 2000. During 2003 KORAMO 

was integrated into PARAMO. This fact allowed 

to concentrate the domestic production 

and marketing of lubricating oils.

Mineral Oil Refinery in Kolín – 

KORAMO, a.s. 

KORAMO, the Mineral Oils Refinery in 

Kolín, was hit by three air raids towards 

the end of World War II and three quarters 

of its installations destroyed. Nonetheless, 

the plant was restored and put into 

operation again soon after the war. 

Like PARAMO, the refinery in Pardubice, 

the Kolín refinery underwent a number of 

organisational changes. It reported to the 

General Directorate of the Czechoslovak 

Chemical Works and – through the Association 

of Czechoslovak Mineral Oil Refineries 

– to the Ministry of Chemical Industry. 

It first became independent in 1953 (gaining 

the name KORAMO, the Mineral Oil 

Refinery in Kolín) under the Ministry of 

Chemical Industry. Later on, towards the 

end of the 1960s, it won independence 

again under the Sectoral Directorate of 

Závody pro zpracování ropy a uhlí (Petroleum 

and Coal Processing Works). Later 

KORAMO existed autonomously within the 

group structure of the Chemopetrol Praha 

Production and Economic Unit. 

KORAMO produced a wide range of engine 

oils, motor and cylinder oils, paraffins, 

oxidised and fluxed bitumens (road 

asphalts), technical petrol, and motor gasoline 

for industrial use. Motor oils were 

treated with additives for better performance. 

KORAMO Kolín had a research laboratory, 

which closely co-operated with the 

Litvínov Chemical Works. The two companies 

jointly developed new types of lubricating 

oils, plastic lubricants, and other 

industrial liquids. The laboratory shut 

down when research activities were centralized 

in the newly established Research 

Institute for Petroleum and Hydrocarbon 

Gases, in Bratislava. Some of the leading 

specialists from the refineries were relocated 

to the Bratislava institute. 

The post-war technology was based on selective 

and acid refining of the feedstock 

supplied from the local refinery or imported 

for the production of base oils. This 

technological process generated considerable 

amounts of pollutants. The most important 

decision made after the war was 

the one to successively extend the product 

range and include in it the base oils produced 

from the hydrocracked oil hydrogenates 

manufactured in Litvínov. Additional 

production units had to be built for this 

purpose, including a solvent-based paraffin 

plant, a refining unit using activated 

clay and a unit for blending the final products. 

The products had very high levels of 

viscosity, good oxidation resistance and a 

low pour point. The use of hydrogenates 

made it possible to phase out the production 

of motor oils with the heavy lubricating 

constituent produced by the Duosol 

refining process (once a revolutionary 

technology, which was in use from 1942 

until 1992) and to make strongly additivated 

light oils. The typical features of these 

high-quality lubricating oils include their 

high viscosity index, year-round usability 

and a great durability (they work for a period 

five times longer than the oils produced 

before). The use of hydrogenates allowed 

to a gradual shut down of the obsolete 

Duosol plant, the acid-based refining 

unit, the compressed paraffin plant, and 

other installations. During the 1960s and 

1970s, KORAMO launched operations at 

a newly built wastewater treatment plant, 

at a new oil filling facility, and at a new 

paraffin filling and packing unit. 

The KORAMO enterprise was already involved 

in producing plastic lubricants during 

the war, and continuously improved 

the production process. Plastic lubricants 

production was transferred to KORAMO 

from a subsidiary (formerly the Jakl & ·tûfiík 

works) in 1970. 

In the 1980s, up to 350,000 tonnes of 

petroleum and about 100,000 tonnes of 

oil hydrogenates was processed in KO- 

RAMO to make lubricating oils. Direct 

petroleum processing ceased in 1992 (in 

the last year alone, the plant processed 

385,000 tonnes of petroleum). 

A facility for redistilling stabilised oil hydrogenates 

came into operation in 1995. It 

meant that the range of base lubricating 

oils, produced exclusively from the raw 

materials generated in the hydrocracking 

units of the Litvínov refinery, could be 

extended. Another important project 

(commissioned in 1997) was the state-ofthe-art, 

computer-controlled oil-blending 

installation at a cost of 250 million Czech 

crowns. 

There are four major stages in the production 

process for the Mogul lubricating 

oils. In the first stage, the base oils bought 

by Kolín refinery from âeská rafinérská 

are redistilled. Once the base oils leave 

the redistilling unit, they undergo further 

refining processes. First, the paraffins are 

removed, and then they are refined with 

bleaching clay. The final stage of making 

70

the oil is the blending of a number of base 

oils and the admixing of additives that enhance 

the quality of the finished product. 

The MOGUL brand extends over far more 

than just the top-grade motor oils. A 

broad spectrum of high-quality industrial 

lubricants under the same brand name 

(transmission oils, hydraulic oils, compressor 

oils, turbine oils, cut oils, and grinding 

oils) are made. Kolín refinery is the only 

Czech producer of plastic lubricants (lithium 

grease, complex soap grease, biodegradable 

and special) and also makes 

special lubricants. Recently the base oils 

production was developed to be delivered 

to other lubrication oils producers. 

KORAMO Kolín was privatised in 1994, 

and a public limited company was 

established, a majority interest of which 

was bought by the CHEMAPOL GROUP, 

which remained a majority owner until 

2000. In 2001, KORAMO became part 

of UNIPETROL. In 2003, KORAMO merged 

with PARAMO. 

71 

MOGUL advertising leaflet 

Mineral Oil Refinery in Ostrava – 

OSTRAMO 

Refurbished before World War II, the refinery 

in Ostrava-Pfiívoz, produced fuels by 

distillation during the war as well as focusing 

on oil production, including top-quality 

machine oils, engine oils, and turbine oils. 

Since the plant was not damaged by air 

raids, soon after the war it was able to resume 

production in its atmospheric/vacuum 

petroleum distillation unit, the unit 

for removal of the vacuum residues by 

means of propane gas, that for dewaxing 

the individual fractions by solvents at low 

temperatures (the Barisol process), and 

that for the solvent-treatment of the oil 

fractions (the Suide-Nowak-Pöll process). 

When the plant was built, it was in a 

suburb of Ostrava, but over time, the expanding 

city centre threatened to engulf 

it. This of course caused environmental, 

safety, transport difficulties and other 

problems. 

After the initial refurbishments, the focus 

of OSTRAMO’s industrial activity shifted 

to acid regeneration of used lubricating 

oils (up to 40 kt annually). Crude oil processing 

operation closed down at the end 

of 1980. 

The refinery was privatised in the 1990 

and was acquired by Ostramo Vlãek, 

s.r.o. The private owner continued – as 

the only such plant in the country – focusing 

on the regeneration of used lubricating 

oils. 

The refinery was definitively shut down 

after the floods that struck Moravia in 

1997caused heavy damage to its facilities. 

The Czech oil refineries in Pardubice, Kolín, 

and Ostrava had the following production 

volumes and numbers of employees 

in 1972: 

Refinery CZK million Employees 

Paramo 470 860 

Koramo 340 840 

Ostramo 190 620 

Total CZK 1,000 million 2,320 

■ 

There were also some small firms engaged 

in the blending and marketing of 

special lubricants, using petroleum raffinates 

bought from refineries. At the onset 

of the central-planning era these were absorbed 

into the refineries and then gradually 

either shut down or transformed into 

co-operative societies. Those worth mentioning 

here include: 

– Jakl a ·tûfiík a.s. in Kolín 

– První plzeÀská rafinérie smoly Ing. âí- 

Ïek a Schmaus in PlzeÀ 

– Chemick˘ závod Cirine J. Lorenz a 

spol. in Cheb 

– A. Klime‰ a spol. in Prague VII 

– Hole‰ovická továrna na minerální 

oleje a tuky L. Peyrl in Prague 

– Závody Kassavia s.r.o. at Velké Bfiezno 

– The Janou‰ek firm in Prague 

– The Avion Zdenûk Pfiichystal firm at 

Îidlochovice 

– Weinreb & Co. in Nov˘ Bohumín 

– Chemická v˘roba J. Turek in Prague- 

Zábûhlice 

and many other small oil producers and 

sellers, whose businesses were all either 

closed down or transferred to larger enterprises.

View of bitumen preparation 

Refinery Research and Development 

Refinery research and development has 

had a long tradition in the Litvínov refinery 

and used to cooperate with further scientific 

and research workplaces. The research 

and development base took shape over the 

1945 to 1957 period. It began as in-company 

research, drawing on investigations 

carried out by the Germans during the war. 

In this early stage, the research unit used 

the company laboratories, where intermediate 

and finished products of the hydrogenation 

plant were examined and evaluated. 

In 1958, the Research Institute for the Utilisation 

of Coal took over the company research 

laboratories. Later this Institute was 

renamed the Research Institute for the Utilisation 

of Hydrocarbons (VÚCHVU). The 

research institute in Litvínov was established 

by Ass. Prof. Rudolf Kubiãka. This was 

at a time when the focus was gradually 

shifting from investigation of brown coal 

tars to investigations into the issues of 

crude oil and petrochemistry. One important 

advantage that the research institute 

had was that it was directly connected to 

the chemical works, which provided great 

opportunities for research and for implementing 

development projects. 

New departments were established in the 

new VÚCHVU, while some of the existing 

departments continued to address the issues 

of brown coal carbonisation, production 

of gas and both mono- and bivalent 

phenols, production of phenolplasts and 

ion exchangers, hydrogenation of tar, and 

later, processing crude oil in all hydrogenation 

phases and heavy naphtha dehydrogenation 

(DHD), as well as the synthesis 

of ammonia and methanol. Every part of 

the newly commissioned plant was monitored 

and investigated, including the extraction-based 

production of aromatics, partial 

dehydroxylation of bivalent phenols, steam 

cracking and hydrogenation of its liquid 

products, as were improvements in the production 

of hydrogen. Special attention was 

always paid to catalysts for the various 

processes, as ways were sought to improve 

them and/or develop of new types. 

As of 1945, there had been no production 

of catalysts for brown oil tar proces- 

72

sing introduced in the ZáluÏí hydrogenation 

plant. The necessary catalysts were 

imported, generally from German plants 

in Leuna or Ludwigshafen. After 1945, 

they were taken from stock still on hand, 

or were purchased in one of the occupation 

zones of Germany. Meanwhile the local 

production of catalysts started. Eventually, 

a whole range of hydrogenation 

and dehydrocyclisation catalysts was developed. 

The first catalyst for liquid phase 

hydrogenation on iron basis was designated 

No. 10927 and was entirely imported. 

The catalyst for the catalytic conversion 

of CO on iron and chromium basis 

was assigned the number 7374. Tungsten 

catalysts No. 5058 and No. 8376 required 

tungstenic acid, which was produced 

by Spolek pro hutní a chemickou v˘robu 

in Ústí nad Labem, and active Al2O3 (alumina), 

produced on an experimental basis 

at Kaznûjov and later in the Slovak 

Aluminium Works at Îiar nad Hronom. A 

catalyst for the gas phase of hydrogenation 

No. 8376 was based on WS2 and 

NiS, on active Al2O3 as the carrier. Alumina 

served as the necessary carrier for 

catalyst 8376 for hydrogenation and refining, 

catalyst 7360 for hydrocarbons dehydrogenation 

and cyclisation, and No. 

3901 for platforming to high-octane gasoline 

fraction. 

The Institute’s publications and Annual 

Proceedings accurately portray the expansion 

of research, particularly in the 

area of processing coal tars and crude 

oil. The institute collected about 900 patents 

and authorship certificates. The results 

of the research were also transferred 

to the other Czechoslovak refineries, inc- 

73 

luding Kauãuk Kralupy and Slovnaft Bratislava, 

as well as to other industries. 

It is not easy to select which were the most 

significant achievements. Some of those 

deserving mention include the following. 

In the 1950s, the separation of the tar and 

heavy petroleum liquid phase of hydrogenation 

and solution of the arsenic calamity 

during tar distillate hydrogenation. It was 

in Litvínov that the first catalytic distillation 

technology was developed. The first in the 

world, it would later take its place among 

the world’s refinery technologies. The hydrogenation 

of crude oil distillates into raw 

materials for the production of oils (oil hydrogenates) 

was also invented there; it 

would keep on being refined for 30–35 years, 

developing into the Nivol process. 

Since the mid-1960s, the research institute 

developed seven proprietary types of both 

mono- and bimetallic catalysts, including 

the procedures for their activation and reactivation. 

These types were then used not 

only at Litvínov, but also in Bratislava (Slovakia) 

and in Plock (Poland). A proprietary 

conforming process was also developed, 

one that played an important role in 

the production of high-octane lead-free 

car petrol from the early 1970s for another 

30 years. The activity and stability of 

these catalysts were at least as good as 

those of the types produced in other developed 

countries. The platinum-rhenium catalyst 

Cherox 34-23 was removed from the 

reforming plant at Litvínov in 2000 after 

almost ten-years of useful life. Improvement 

of the hydrogenation refining process 

of heavy naphtha using the Cherox 

39-30 catalyst could be achieved thanks 

to the successful service of this catalyst. 

The development of car petrol in Czechoslovakia 

followed always the European 

quality trends. In 1979, Czechoslovakia 

was the first European country to use second-generation 

detergent additives at 

100 % all gasoline types. Researchers at 

the VÚCHVU Institute laid the groundwork 

for the improvement of petrol at all Czechoslovak 

refineries with a gradual reduction 

and then complete elimination of alkyl 

lead from the car petrol. 

A qualitative change in the implementation 

of refinery research results was achieved in 

the 1990s, when changes in the economic 

management of the refineries made it necessary 

to address the various tasks based 

on the need to improve the operation of the 

existing plants and of the newly installed 

equipment. Czech refineries, like refineries 

in other countries, began using combinations 

of outside suppliers, both domestic 

and international. It was advantageous for 

âeská rafinérská to make use of the potential 

of the Shareholder-multinational oil 

company Shell. Its extensive information 

databases have been available to Czech 

users under the Technical Service Agreement. 

Specific refinery tasks are at present 

addressed mainly in the research centres of 

the University of Chemical Technology in 

Prague and the Inorganic Chemistry Research 

Institute (VÚAnCH) in Ústí nad Labem, 

which took over the Litvínov research facilities 

within the organisation structure of 

the UNIPETROL Group.

Oil Lifting 

Pipelines for the 

Transport of Crude 

Oil and Refined 

Products 

Distribution 

Pipelines for 

Refinery Products

Oil Lifting 

The beginnings of the oil sector in Bohemia 

and Moravia date back to about 1899, 

when the first oil well, called “Helena”, 

was drilled at Bohuslavice nad Vláfií. Drilling 

there was completed in 1900, at a total 

depth of 450.7 m. The project was implemented 

by Julius May, owner of a sugar 

mill at Staré Mûsto near Uherské Hradi‰tû. 

Numerous manifestations of the occurrence 

of natural hydrocarbons had been known 

there for a long time. Interest in oil lifting 

was encouraged by the oil-extraction activities 

in geologically related, neighbouring 

lands of the former Austro-Hungarian monarchy 

– in Slovakia and Hungary. The oilbearing 

structures of the Bohemian Massif 

and the Vienna Basin reach into the Czech 

territory. 

The second-oldest deep well was drilled a 

year later, as a project implemented by 

geologist E. Tietze near the Nesyt Farm in 

the Hodonín District. However, on the basis 

of Tietze’s expert opinion, the investigated 

area remained practically unused 

until 1917. Private prospectors then took 

the initiative, but their discoveries had no 

quantitative importance. This changed 

with the oil strike at the West Slovakian 

town Gbely in the course of a prospecting 

project initiated by the Austro-Hungarian 

state. Interest in investigating the oil potential 

of promising locations rapidly increased, 

and drilling work soon began in 

the cadastral areas of Hodonín, LuÏice, 

Tû‰ice and Mikulãice. 

World War I did not bring about any increase 

in petroleum production, in spite of 

various efforts. The new Czechoslovak 

state gained the rich oilfield at Gbely. Alt- 

76

hough most of the foreign specialists had 

left the site and the number of employees 

dropped to one-tenth of its former self, 

Gbely became the number-one oilfield. 

Czechoslovakia was the only country in 

the former territory of the monarchy to extract 

crude oil on an industrial basis. Unfortunately, 

domestic oil extraction was 

far from sufficient to satisfy the needs of 

the extensive industry inherited from the 

monarchy in the Czech territory. Hence, 

the issue of providing crude oil supply 

was an extremely important one. 

In 1919, soon after the establishment of 

Czechoslovakia, extensive geological investigations 

were started at a number of 

sites, and by 1924 there were as many as 

a thousand oil wells, mainly in the surrounding 

areas of Gbely, Hodonín, and 

Turzovka and at other promising sites in 

South Moravia, in the Carpathians, and 

the Beskids. At the time, Czechoslovak oil 

wells produced 6,487 tonnes of crude oil. 

The government had long hoped to assume 

exclusive oil prospecting rights in 

promising locations, and on 22th March 

1920 the parliament passed a new Oil 

Act, stipulating state ownership of natural 

hydrocarbon resources. The new legislation 

was intended to help repay the debts 

inherited from the pre-war monarchy and 

to address the issue of a lack of free capital. 

It resulted, however, in stagnation, 

and after some unsuccessful negotiations 

with investors, it had to be amended to 

apply only to light crude. 

The Moravian Oil Company was an important 

private company that was able to 

win a position among the state corporati- 

77 

ons. It lifted oil at Nesyt from 1919 until 

1925, when it joined the Apollo Bratislava 

oil refinery. 

Private prospectors were more active than 

the state at the time. After 1930, the state 

began supporting the oil business again, 

trying to increase output, utilise the existing 

and new oil wells more effectively, 

and reduce the country’s dependence on 

imports. The state continued its geological 

surveying activities, but the whole industry 

was already affected by the imminent 

war. 

The period of 1918 – 1939 was a one of 

hand boring and percussion drilling. 

Hand boring was used for penetrating to 

smaller depths and for the most part was 

done with hand spiral drills or hand au- 

gers. Greater depths were reached exclusively 

by percussion drilling (either dry or 

flush drilling). A rotary drilling rig was 

first used in the Czech territory in 1940 at 

the exploration drill sites of ·a‰tín and 

Holíã. Although this method had already 

been successfully used in the 1930s in Poland, 

Austria and Germany, Czech oil engineers 

lagged significantly behind other 

oil prospecting and lifting companies as 

far as drilling equipment was concerned. 

The crude oil in the Hodonín oilfield is 

characterised as a medium-heavy paraffinic 

and paraffinic-naphthenic oil of kerosene-oil, 

or oil nature, with a higher content 

of the petrol (gasoline) fraction. As 

is widely known, Professor Stanislav 

Landa of the Prague University of Chemi- 

Drifting device, called the “kozlík”

Growth of oil and gas output in Moravia after liberalisation in 1945 

May June July August September October November December 

Oil (t) 48.5 245.28 290.65 380.5 – 229.12 265.52 441.24 

Development of crude oil production volumes in Czechoslovakia, 1945 – 1948 

1945 1946 1947 1948 

Oil (t) 13,400 29,100 32,500 30,750 

cal Technology isolated from it a tricyclic 

saturated hydrocarbon, which he called 

adamanthan. 

The Protectorate “Böhmen und Mähren” 

declared a formal monopoly on natural 

hydrocarbon prospecting and lifting in 

1940. Small-scale surveying work was 

conducted in the vicinity of Bystfiice pod 

Host˘nem and near Osíãko, but only until 

1941. During the remainder of the war, 

the oil industry remained fully under the 

control of foreign (German) capital. In 

spite of the discoveries made mainly in 

Moravian terrains during the war, oil lifting 

output did not increase. However, the 

Germans made ample use of the oil resources 

as strategic raw material and 

tried to keep extracting it until the very 

last moment, midnight of 4th April 1945. 

Then came the order for “paralysing and 

destructive action”, under the Nazi “scorched 

earth” policy, implemented through 

the “ARLZ” Plan. 

The need for effective post-war renewal, 

characterised by a considerable shortage 

of raw materials, hastened the reopening 

of the wells and the completion of the development 

work started during the war. 

Over the last eight months of 1945, production 

volumes increased by a factor of 

almost nine, and annual output grew from 

13,400 tonnes of oil in 1945 to 30,750 

tonnes in 1948. 

The nature of the oil industry changed 

with the turbulent developments in the 

Czechoslovak state in this period. It appeared 

desirable to build a unified single 

enterprise. âeskoslovenské naftové závody 

(Czechoslovak Oil Works), based in 

Hodonín, was officially established on 

7th March 1946 with retroactive effect 

from 1st January 1946. In addition to the 

assets concerned, the newly established 

enterprise acquired all rights and authorisations 

for the prospecting and lifting of 

asphalts, bitumens, and pitches, regardless 

of whether they belonged to the state 

or to private persons. The individual 

plants were located in, for example, 

Hodonín, Vacenovice, Îatãany, Velké 

Bílovice, LuÏice, Miková and Gbely. 

The South Moravian oilfields continued 

expanding during the era of the Czechoslovak 

“people’s democratic state”. Nevertheless, 

the Gbely wells maintained 

their leading position in crude oil extrac- 

tion. Bfieclav, Mûním and the West Slovakian 

·tefanov were new sites of oil extraction. 

âeskoslovenské naftové závody continued 

developing and expanding until 1953. At 

that time, renamed Státní naftové doly 

(State Oil Wells), it was put under the direct 

control of the Ministry of Fuels and 

Energy. It remained there until 1969, 

when the company was split into its Moravian 

and Slovak parts, i.e. Moravské 

naftové doly (Moravian Oil Wells), based 

in Hodonín, and Slovenské naftové doly 

(Slovak Oil Wells), later renamed Nafta, 

based in Gbely. From the end of 1977, 

both Nafta Gbely and Moravské naftové 

doly were re-associated within the concern 

structure of Naftov˘ a plynárensk˘ 

podnik Bratislava (Oil and Gas Enterprise), 

which had its registered office in 

Bratislava. 

The concern was split again after the Velvet 

Revolution of 1989. On the Moravian side, 

the separate state enterprise Moravské naftové 

doly was established as of 1st April 

1990, and based in Hodonín. On 24 April 

1992, the National Property Fund established 

the joint-stock company Moravské 

78

naftové doly, a.s. The new joint-stock company 

has continued to develop the tradition 

of the former âeskoslovenské naftové 

doly, established in 1946. 

In spite of modest beginnings, the enterprise 

Moravské naftové doly, a.s. has been 

significantly increasing its output since 

1998. New technological processes are 

being introduced in geological surveying, 

including 3D seismic measurements, and 

in the drilling work, including horizontal 

bores. The output in 2002 was 296,5 m3 . 

During the period of 2002–2003, the 

company built a pipeline to connect the 

oilfield to the Druzhba oil pipeline, with a 

view to providing logistic base support to 

a larger volume of production. During the 

1990s, the key customers buying the Moravian 

oil included ÖMV and PARAMO 

Pardubice. âeská rafinérská began buying 

Moravian crude oil after commissioning 

of its FCC unit. 

79 

Crude oil production and processing 

from domestic resources 

Year Volume of production 

in Czechoslovakia 

(thousands of m3 ) 

1989 124* 

1990 110* 

1991 095* 

1992 103 

1993 130 

1994 150 

1995 174 

1996 181 

1997 189 

1998 210 

1999 214 

2000 204 

2001 212 

2002 297 

2003 214 

* note: estimation 

The oil fields already discovered in the 

Moravian terrains added to the assumption 

of oil occurrence in other locations 

providing a promising perspective for the 

Czech oil industry even in the years to 

come. At some sites the oil prospectors’ 

plans will be confronted with the protests 

and requirements of citizens striving to 

preserve nature and natural environments, 

but the new sophisticated methods of oil 

extraction will help ensure oil lifting at 

new sites with a minimum of environmental 

hazard. 

Central Tank Farm Nelahozeves, MERO âR

The history of transport of crude through 

pipelines began on the American continent 

in the second half of the 19th century. 

Standard Oil of New York, a company belonging 

to the Rockefeller empire, built a 

pipeline from its Pennsylvania oilfields to 

New York State in order to achieve a logistic 

advantage over its competitors, who 

had to haul petroleum on rail. In this way, 

Standard Oil strengthened its position in 

the centre of petroleum consumption and 

dominated the petroleum business in the 

USA in the period that followed. 

The first half of the 20th century saw petroleum 

pipelines spread to the Middle 

East and the transport of the Caspian petroleum. 

Since then, mainly in second half 

of the 20th century, numerous pipelines for 

petroleum and petroleum products have 

stretched out across both the American 

Rail tank for crude oil transporting produced by Královopolské strojírny, Brno, circa 1909 

Pipelines for the Transport of Crude Oil 

and Refined Products 

and European continents. The longest 

crude pipeline in Europe is the Druzhba 

pipeline: from Siberia to central Europe. 

The petroleum pipeline in Alaska, on the 

other hand, has probably become the 

most controversial pipeline of its kind in 

the world. 

In Bohemia, the first pipeline intended to 

transport petroleum products over longer 

distances was built during World War II. 

The Germans built large-capacity fuel depots 

specifically for their war machinery 

near Roudnice nad Labem. The product 

pipeline from ZáluÏí to Roudnice was 

found to be a very effective transport 

route to supply the depot with fuels during 

a period of increasingly intensive Allied 

air raids on fuel transport trains. Another 

product pipeline was built at the same 

time, to connect the depot at Roudnice 

nad Labem with the refinery in Swechat, 

Austria. 

The ZáluÏí – Roudnice product pipeline 

made up the backbone of the product pipeline 

network after the war. Gradually, 

the network was extended to supply petroleum 

products to (and from) other regions 

in Bohemia, South Moravia, and Slovakia. 

The Benzina National Enterprise 

operated those pipelines. Dispatch depots 

with large-capacity storage tanks were 

built on the product pipeline network to 

maintain strategic stocks. Obviously, construction 

of the product pipeline network 

and fuel depots reflected the needs of the 

military at that time. 

The network of product pipelines as it is 

today connects the main plants in Litvínov 

and Kralupy with the large-capacity depots 

and dispatch points, thus cutting the 

80

costs of fuel transport to distributors and 

reducing the volumes that otherwise 

would have to be hauled along roads and 

railways. The âepro company is currently 

responsible in the Czech Republic for 

operating the product pipelines and the 

fuel dispatch depots. âepro also operates 

a network of fuel stations and is responsible 

for the management of the strategic 

stocks of fuels which EU regulations obligate 

the Czech Republic to maintain. 

The petroleum pipeline from Russia was 

built as part of the southern branch of the 

Druzhba pipeline in the second half of the 

20th century. Until that time, crude oil had 

been brought to Czechoslovakia on rail. 

The petroleum pipeline was laid from the 

Slovak/Soviet border across eastern and 

southern Slovakia to Vlãí hrdlo near Bratislava, 

where the large Slovnaft refinery 

and petrochemical complex was built. Petroleum 

began flowing in through the pipeline 

in 1962. Another segment of the pipeline 

led from southern Slovakia to Bohemia. 

It crossed the Morava River, to where 

it had pumping stations at Klobouky and 

Velká Bíte‰ in Moravia. Then it crossed the 

Czech-Moravian Uplands and ran through 

Bohemia to ZáluÏí near Litvínov. Petroleum 

from the Druzhba pipeline first reached 

ZáluÏí in 1963. The new refinery being 

built in Kralupy nad Vltavou also had to 

be connected to the Druzhba source, and 

so a connecting line was built from the 

Druzhba pipeline to Kralupy. Another connecting 

pipeline had to be built from the 

Druzhba to the refineries in Kolín and Pardubice. 

The Benzina National Enterprise 

operated the petroleum pipeline, which 

81 

had its control centre at Hnûvice near 

Roudnice nad Labem. Later on, a pipeline 

was built to connect Czechoslovak users 

with the ADRIA petroleum pipeline, which 

ran from former Yugoslavia through Hungary 

to Tupá in southern Slovakia. Several 

parallel segments (the Slovakia Pipeline 

Intensification Project and Bohemia Pipeline 

Intensification Project) and several 

pipeline bypasses were built at the same 

time. The most important bypasses included, 

for example, the diversion of the petroleum 

pipeline that ran over Îitn˘ ostrov 

[The Rye Island] in southern Slovakia. The 

purpose was to avoid the risk of contaminating 

the large ground water reservoirs 

in that region. The capacity of the 

Druzhba pipeline was large enough to 

supply all of the refineries in Czechoslovakia 

with petroleum. The petroleum initially 

came from the European part of the Soviet 

Union, from the regions between the Volga 

River and Ural Mountains. Later the pipeline 

began transporting a blend of west 

Siberian petroleum, now referred to as the 

Russian Export Blend (REB). 

Another international petroleum pipeline, 

MERO-IKL (the traditional abbreviation 

IKL means Ingolstadt – Kralupy nad Vltavou 

– Litvínov), was designed and built 

during the first half of the 1990s as a selfcontained 

infrastructure project between 

Bavaria and the Czech Republic, thus 

symbolically connecting East and West. 

The implementation of that project was 

encouraged by the positive developments 

in world affairs and by doubts about the 

future of the Russian petroleum producing 

companies. These doubts were exacerba- 

Semiproduct and product transportation in refinery 

ted by instability in the oil supply coming 

through the Druzhba, which had to cross 

four countries (Russia, Belarus, the Ukraine, 

and Slovakia) before reaching the 

Czech processing plants. 

The contract for the construction and operation 

of the MERO petroleum pipeline was 

signed on 14th April 1994. Four crude 

storage depots were also built in Vohlburg 

an der Donau as part of the pipeline project, 

and other storage capacities were 

built at Nelahozeves. With a pipe diameter 

of 711 mm, the pipeline transports petroleum 

from the TAL line, leading from Trieste 

in Italy. Along its route from Vohlburg, the 

petroleum pipeline crosses the Danube at 

Regensburg, then crosses the Bohemian 

Forest Mountains at Rozvadov, and ends at 

the Central crude reserve at Nelahozeves. 

The company IKL Pipeline, GmbH was established 

to take charge of the IKL pipeline 

development, and was later taken over by 

a new company, MERO âR, a.s. Itt’s core 

business included the construction of the 

IKL pipeline and the operation of the

The Druzhba Pipeline 

– Total length of the route in the Czech Republic: 

357 km 

– Total length of the pipeline in the Czech 

Republic, including parallel lines and 

branches: 505 km 

– Transport capacity: 9 million tonnes petroleum 

annually 

– Diameter: 528 mm 

– 3 pumping stations and 3 delivery stations 

in the Czech Republic 

IKL 

– Total length of the route (Vohburg an der 

Donau – CTR Nelahozeves): 349 km 

– Total length of the pipeline in the Czech 

Republic: 169.7 km 

– Transport capacity: 10 million tonnes petroleum 

annually 

– Storage capacity of the Central Crude 

Reserve in Vohburg an der Donau: 

1,300,000 m3 – Storage capacity of CTR Nelahozeves: 

800,000 m3 – Diameter 714 mm (28”) 

Druzhba Pipeline within the Czech territory. 

Within MERO, the operating control 

of both petroleum pipelines was transferred 

to a modern control centre at CTR Nelahozeves 

near Kralupy nad Vltavou, 

where extensive storage capacities are 

also located and used for the purposes of 

âeská rafinérská and for the management 

of the state’s strategic stocks. 

In the second half of the 1990s, MERO âR 

carried out substantial modernisation 

work on its section of the Druzhba petroleum 

pipeline in order to meet the requirements 

for high operating reliability and 

environmental safety. 

The system under which a single company 

operates both petroleum pipelines is an 

advantageous one for the Czech refineries, 

because they pay the same transport charge 

for all pipeline services. Having alternative 

petroleum pipelines generally eliminates the 

potential risks that may be associated with 

operating problems affecting the suppliers 

or the operators of some of the pipeline 

branches. As a result, the two-pipeline system 

allows a continuous supply of petroleum 

of the requisite quality to reach refineries. 

Supplied and processed crude oil in the Czech refineries 

(thousands of tonnes) 

Processed in the 

Year Supplied Czech Republic Note 

1975 15,893 7,183 into âSSR 

1976 17,647 7,697 into âSSR 

1977 17,651 8,611 into âSSR 

1978 18,302 8,936 into âSSR 

1979 18,834 9,316 into âSSR 

1980 18,934 9,257 into âSSR 

1981 18,321 9,394 into âSSR 

1982 16,848 8,853 into âSSR 

1983 16,718 8,724 into âSSR 

1984 16,501 8,627 into âSSR 

1985 16,600 8,736 into âSSR 

1986 16,900 8,854 into âSSR 

1987 16,990 8,859 into âSSR 

1988 16,422 8,600 into âSSR 

1989 16,600 8,732 into âSSR 

1990 13,354 7,297 into âSFR 

1991 6,305 6,402 into âR 

1992 6,618 6,663 into âR 

1993 6,094 6,205 into âR 

1994 6,920 6,591 into âR 

1995 7,051 6,936 into âR 

1996 7,560 7,616 (came from IKL) 1,418.3 

1997 7,116 6,913 (came from IKL) 1,285.8 

1998 7,019 6,778 (came from IKL) 1,319.6 

1999 6,110 6,002 (came from IKL) 1,232.1 

2000 5,757 5,912 (came from IKL) 2,060.1 

2001 5,972 6,078 (came from IKL) 2,187.3 

2002 6,148 6,238 (came from IKL) 2,265.1 

2003 6,597 6,592 (came from IKL) 2,334.4 

82

Distribution Pipelines for Refinery Products 

▲ 

View from the distillation tower 

of Kralupy refinery 

From the onset of motorisation in the 

Czech Lands until the end of the 1940s, 

producers either managed the supply of 

motor fuels and other petroleum products 

to consumers directly or they did so 

through a network of various retailers, 

including chemists, who often also traded 

in a number of other products. With the 

development of motoring and industrial 

production, fuel producers had to start 

building their own networks of outlet 

points, including fuel depots and roadside 

gasoline stations, which they franchised 

to small local merchants. One of the first 

firm in the fuel distribution area, akciová 

spoleãnost pro v˘robu a obchod s minerálními 

oleji Bratfií Zikmundové (Zikmund 

Brothers Company for Mineral Oil Production 

and Marketing, plc.) was established 

in 1920. Their activities included 

trading in gasoline, kerosene, oils and 

greases. In 1923 they built the first gasoline 

station, at Námûstí Republiky in Prague. 

In 1938, as the largest Czech distributor, 

they had 1,093 petrol stations and 

27 supply depots. 

84

This distribution system remained unchanged 

until the nationalisation of industry. 

After nationalisation, motor fuel and lubricant 

production was concentrated in 

large refineries, and a specialised distribution 

enterprise took over the distribution 

pipelines. In the beginning, Benzinol 

Praha, National Enterprise, was this entity. 

It was established on 1st January 

1949 on the basis of the combined assets 

of 26 former wholesalers. Benzinol’s core 

business included trading in solid, liquid 

and gaseous fuels. In addition, it dealt in 

products of petroleum, coal, and their derivatives, 

and in all kinds of lubricating 

oils and greases. Benzina Roudnice nad 

Labem was taken over by Benzinol on 

85 

1st July 1951 (until that time it had been 

under the Stalinovy závody n.p. refinery 

(Stalin Works National Enterprise), which 

later became Chemické závody âSSP 

(Czechoslovak-Soviet Friendship Chemical 

Works) in Litvínov as described earlier. 

Thus, trading activities were interconnected 

with the supply activities through 

large-capacity depots and long-distance 

product pipelines. 

Towards the end of 1952, the Benzinol 

National Enterprise was shut down, and 

its activities were transferred to the Chema 

marketing organisation. The range of products 

sold by the new entity was extended 

to include basic chemical commodities, 

explosives, tyres, and tar-based dyestuffs, 

etc. In 1958, the fuel stations network 

(which was still relatively thin) was taken 

over by another new enterprise, Benzina 

Praha, part of SdruÏení rafinérií minerálních 

olejÛ (Association of Mineral Oil 

Refineries). It had seven sales units located 

in Czech cities and towns, Prague, 

Tábor, Tfiemo‰ná near PlzeÀ, Hradec Králové, 

Liberec, Brno and Ostrava. Benzina 

Praha built a network of new fuel stations. 

Each was equipped with several pumps 

which dispensed two to three types of 

gasoline and diesel fuel, and with underground 

tanks, typically with a capacity of 

32 m3 . New types of Tatra tank truck trailers 

were used to distribute the fuels to the 

fuel stations. Their tanks were divided into 

Petrol station in Îidenice, Brno in 1949

several compartments and had a total capacity 

of 35 m3 . 

Benzina’s business was extended to include 

a very important new activity: the transport 

and supply of crude oils to refineries 

through the Druzhba petroleum pipeline 

(commissioned in 1962). Until the establishment 

of new enterprises MERO âR and 

âepro, Benzina was responsible for the 

construction and operation of petroleum 

and product pipelines and for the management 

of the government’s strategic stocks. 

At the end of 1962 Benzina was withdrawn 

from under SdruÏení rafinérií minerálních 

olejÛ and was put under the direct 

responsibility of the Ministry of Chemical 

Industry, starting from January 1963. The 

Ministry transferred direct authority to the 

VHJ Závody pro zpracování ropy a uhlí 

Group (Production and Economic Unit – 

Petroleum and Coal Processing Works), 

which provided the basis on which VHJ 

Chemopetrol Praha was later established. 

In 1970, the Benzina National Enterprise 

was split into Benzina (for the Czech Republic) 

and Benzinol (for the Slovak Republic). 

The Chemopetrol Praha Group 

was established in 1975 and the Benzina 

National Enterprise was transferred to it 

as one of its group enterprises. 

In 1989, Benzina operated 752 public 

petrol stations and annually sold 2.5 billion 

litres of gasoline and diesel fuel for 

CZK 40 billion. In addition, Benzina marketed 

lubricants (215 kilotons annually), 

of which 55 % were industrial oils and 

45 % motor oils. Tank trucks and barrels 

were used to supply lubricants to automobile 

manufacturers and repair service 

Rise in the number of service 

stations in the Czech Republic 

after 1989 

Year Number Foreign 

1989 784 

1990 792 

1991 836 

1992 887 

1993 946 

1994 1120 

1995 1346 

1996 1532 

1997 1761 

1998 1812 

1999 1820 476 

2000 1950 494 

2001 1965 507 

2002 2065 536 

2003 2110 537 

Overview of significant 

service stations operators 

(number, state as of 

31 st December 2003) 

Subject Number 

Benzina, a.s. 312 

PapOil, a.s. 141 

âepro, a.s. 190 

OMV, s.r.o. 123 

Shell CZ 124 

AGIP 73 

ARAL âR 70 

JET 43 

shops and garages. About 12 kilotons of 

21 types of motor oils and gear oils in retail, 

usually in one-litre packaging (about 

10 % of the total quantity of 120 kilotons) 

were sold at the fuel stations. 

When Chemopetrol Group was wound up 

in 1990, the Benzina State Enterprise was 

established, which was transformed into a 

public limited company (Benzina, a.s.) in 

1994. In 1996, the Benzina interest was 

transferred to Unipetrol, a.s. 

The development of the distribution network 

in the 1990s was characterised by a 

rapid growth in terms of the number of 

fuel stations and by a rapid and great improvement 

in sales service quality. At the 

onset of this rapid progress, there were 

752 such stations (the Benzina network). 

Other local companies began building 

fuel stations networks of their own, but the 

general trends were set by international 

players such as Shell, Agip, Aral, ÖMV, 

Conoco/JET, Esso, BP, DEA, Total, Slovnaft 

Moravia, and some others. As these 

networks developed, the fuel stations gradually 

acquired a more attractive appearance 

and extended their range of services, 

extending their working hours as 

well. Brand distributors operate their stations 

in compliance with environmental 

standards and the quality of their services 

has been at a good European standard. 

At the end of the 20th century there existed 

about 1,800 public petrol stations in 

the Czech Republic. 

Foreign companies own 26 % of all service stations. 

Ownership of the service station network is still 

spread out. 

Forty percent of all owners own 10 or fewer filling 

stations. Fluid Catalytic Cracker 

▲ 

86

Privatization of 

Czech Refineries and 

the Establishment of 

âeská rafinérská

The signing of the “Definitive Agreements” in Hrzánsk˘ Palace, Prague on the November 15 th , 1995 

Privatization of Czech Refineries and 

the Establishment of âeská rafinérská 

▲ 

Vacuum distiller in FCC complex 

Privatization 

The year of 1989 was one of great social 

and political changes in the Czechoslovak 

Republic. That year the Czech refineries 

were in the middle of the process of dismantling 

the former VHJ Chemopetrol 

Praha Group Enterprise and establishing 

state enterprises under the direct control 

of the Czech Ministry of Industry. 

In 1990 the new government of the Czechoslovak 

Federal Republic adopted a 

concept and scenario of economic reform. 

It liberalised economic relations and star- 

ted preparing for the privatization of 

state-owned enterprises. 

The liberalisation of the fuels market and 

the removal of existing monopolies led to 

the growth of fuel imports and the opening 

of new networks of petrol stations. 

Both famous multinational companies 

and new local businesses, built petrol stations. 

The latter often bought their first 

petrol stations in auctions under the 

“small-scale privatization” scheme in 

1991 and 1992. The number of petrol 

stations gradually increased as fuel consumption 

grew in the territory of the 

newly named Czech Republic. 

90

The market for petroleum products developing 

from the previous monopoly market 

was affected by the deregulation of prices, 

which had previously been determined under 

centrally managed specific price controls. 

The exchange rate of the Czech crown 

and world currencies changed significantly 

at the same time, and petroleum was 

bought only with hard currencies from that 

time on. In addition, a tax reform was implemented 

as of 1st January 1993, which 

imposed a value added tax on fuel purchases, 

in addition to the excise tax. Then, in 

1994, the payment time for the excise tax 

was changed: starting from 1994, the tax 

had to be paid as an ex-refinery payment 

(on the producer’s side). The specific price 

controls imposed on fuels were removed 

much later, with effect on 1st January 1997. 

In May 1990 the federal government 

adopted the economic reform scenario. 

The reforms included the privatization of 

state-owned assets. The so-called “largescale 

privatization” took place in accordance 

with the Act on the Transfer of 

State Property to Other Persons. The key 

element of all of the large-scale privatizations 

was the privatization proposal, in 

which an inventory was taken of the immovable 

and movable assets concerned 

as well as the business relations, including 

all payables and receivables. At the 

end of the privatization proposal the applicant 

had to describe the proposed method 

of privatization, i.e. the transformation 

of the state enterprise into a limited 

company with a different ownership 

structure. This involved determining what 

proportion of the shares should be pla- 

91 

ced in a trade sale, what proportion of 

the shares should be sold under the voucher 

privatization scheme, the transfers 

of shares to other legal entities, including 

municipalities, transfers to individuals 

(restitutions), and allocations to the mandatory 

state funds. 

The government chose to use the National 

Property Fund to keep, at least for a transitional 

period, a certain equity interest in 

those state enterprises that fell into the “family 

silver” category, such as the refineries. 

Voucher privatization took place in two 

waves. Refineries were privatised in the 

second wave (1993–1994). 

Analyses of the refinery industry in the 

Czech Republic showed that the refinery 

companies were undercapitalised. With 

their configuration and technological 

level, it would be difficult to satisfy the 

expected future requirements for the operational 

safety and environmental protection. 

In the majority of cases, it was 

agreed that the Czech refineries and petrochemical 

enterprises would need foreign 

investment to improve their competiti- 

veness and eliminate the vulnerability of 

the industry, caused by dependence on a 

single petroleum source. The need to integrate 

the Czech refineries and petrochemistry 

in the European petroleum products 

market within a historicaly relatively 

short period of time was also taken into 

account. In addition, the installed capacity 

of Czech refineries greatly exceeded 

domestic consumption. 

For all these reasons, the Czech government 

had already invited potential investors 

to visit the Czech refinery operations 

in 1991–1992. Visitors could interview 

the management teams and see and survey 

the operations in Data Rooms. In addition, 

they were given a selection of data 

and information (the Information Memorandum). 

The invitation was sent to all potentially 

interested parties from both European 

and overseas countries. 

However, no investor was interested in entering 

one of the enterprises as a whole at 

that time (1992–1993). Investors were, 

however, interested in investing separately 

in either the production entities of the 

Crucial Czech government resolution on the privatization of refineries 

▲

Privatization of state-owned refining-petrochemical companies in the Czech Republic 

(according to approved privatization projects) 

Subject to be transformed Registered capital 

FNM 

Privatization way (privatization project) % 

(3) Voucher pri- Direct Transfers to Funds Remaining 

thousands of CZK vatization (4) sale legal entities (RIF) 

Chemopetrol Litvínov, s.p. 10,478,892 40 36 15 6 3 - 

Kauãuk Kralupy, s.p. 4,971,000 41 26.5 25 3.5 3 1 

1,107,211 - - - 100 (1) - - 

BENZINA, s.p. 4,789,000 100 - - - - - 

200,000 - - - - - - 

KORAMO Kolín, s.p. 545,556 13.03 0 78.31 3.66 3 2 

PARAMO Pardubice, s.p. 1,241,502 35 23 32 5 3 2 

OSTRAMO Ostrava, s.p. 

Petrotrans, a.s. and 

138,000 - - 100 - - - 

Chemopetrol IKL, s.r.o. 8,431,000 (2) 100 - - - - - 

(1) – Transfers without charge (49 % Chemopetrol, a.s., 35 % Kauãuk, a.s., 8 % Paramo, a.s., 8 % Koramo, a.s.) 

(2) – State in 1997, (3) – National Property Fund, (4) – Purchase through vouchers by subscribed Czech Republic inhabitants 

refineries or in those of the petrochemical 

industry. However, dividing the enterprises 

in such a way entailed technical problems 

relating to the separation of refinery 

operations from the integrated refinery/petrochemistry 

complexes in Kralupy 

nad Vltavou and Litvínov as well as 

other difficulties. 

In mid-1992 the investors who had received 

the Information Memorandum were 

invited to submit in their tenders. The 

Czech Ministry of Industry and Trade obtained 

a proposal from the Total-Agip- 

Petroli-Conoco Consortium for capital 

investment in the united refineries in Kralupy 

nad Vltavou and Litvínov. The 

Consortium had accepted the Czech government’s 

condition as to a 49 % capital 

interest. Later the Ministry received a 

proposal from the Shell coorporation to 

enter into the refinery part of Kauãuk 

Kralupy, involving a 100 % interest. Shell 

offered to build a unit for secondary processing 

of the heavier petroleum intermediates 

in the Kralupy refinery. None of 

the other potential investors who had 

been approached submitted tenders. 

Those who were interested in entering 

the petrochemical parts of the companies 

– Neste’ and (later on) Borealis and others 

– elected to wait for the ownership 

relations in the refinery sector to be resolved 

first. 

The interest of all potential investors’ in 

the refineries was subject to the major 

condition that an alternative route to 

supply the Czech Republic with petroleum 

be constructed. Having considered a 

number of possible options (the Adria pipeline 

from the south, the TAL-AWL-Slovnaft 

route, a northern route from Rostock 

through Leuna or from Gdaƒsk, and 

others), the Czech government elected to 

build a petroleum pipeline from Ingolstadt 

(Bavaria) to Kralupy, which would be connected 

to the large-capacity TAL pipeline 

from the Adriatic port of Trieste. The legislation 

relating to construction of the 

pipeline was strongly adopted by governments 

of both the Czech Republic and 

Bavaria. 

On the Czech side, a control crude reserve 

was built (in several stages) in the 

cadastral area of Uhy at Nelahozeves 

near Kralupy nad Vltavou. Petroleum began 

flowing to that reception facility on 

6th December 1995. 

94

The Czech side gradually elaborated the 

conditions it would place on foreign capital’s 

entry into the refineries. Once the bid 

of the Total-AgipPetroli-Conoco consortium 

and the Shell bid had been submitted 

(1993), the discussion became more specific 

in form. The matter fell within the 

portfolio of the Czech Minister of Industry 

and Trade, who had to coordinate his actions 

with the Minister for National Property 

Administration and Privatization. 

The official discussion on the government 

level took place during meetings of the 

Czech economic ministers. 

According to the privatization strategy initially 

proposed (1993) by the Ministry of 

Industry and Trade, the Chemopetrol Litvínov 

and Kauãuk Kralupy State Enterprises 

were to be transformed (“privatised” in 

95 

New subject Note 

Chemopetrol, a.s., Litvínov including refineries 

Kauãuk, a.s., Kralupy including refineries 

BENZINA, a.s., Praha service stations 

âepro, a.s., Praha product pipelines and storages 

Benzina, s.p. Praha not privatized 

Koramo, a.s., Kolín lubricating oils 

Paramo, a.s., Pardubice lubricating oils and diesel 

Ostramo-Vlãek a spol., s.r.o., Ostrava used lubricants 

MERO âR, a.s., Kralupy IKL and Drushba pipelines 

Czech official language) into public limited 

companies with the majority interest to 

be held by the National Property Fund. 

An attractive portion was intended for the 

voucher privatization scheme and transfers 

to municipalities, allocations to obligatory 

funds, and (in the case of Kauãuk) 

also a trade sale were also built into the 

strategy. “Privatization” was to be followed 

by restructuring, which was to take 

the form of removal of both refinery parts 

from their existing organisation structures 

and their combination into a single new 

entity. Foreign investors would then be introduced 

into that new entity through increasing 

the share capital. A similar model 

for introducing strategic partners was 

also drawn up for the petrochemical and 

other parts. The fusion of the two refine- 

ries was not a new concept. In the 1970s 

and 1980s, the centrally controlled VHJ 

Chemopetrol had,- within the state plan,begun 

to consider the idea. The rationale 

Structure of Česká rafinérská 

shareholders in 2004 

ENI 

161 /3 % 

Shell 

161 /3 % 

Unipetrol 

51 % 

Conoco 

Phillips 

161 /3 %

Kralupy site – âeská rafinérská and part of Kauãuk with power plant 

supporting fusion of the refineries was 

that combining the two largest Czech refineries 

would provide a synergy that could 

be exploited (they would stop competing 

with each other on the Czech market) and, 

simultaneously, would strengthen the position 

of Czech refineries in Central Europe. 

The Czech side placed the following conditions 

on the investor; both the refineries 

were to continue operating; existing technological 

links to the related petrochemical 

plants would be maintained; an extensive 

modernisation, environmental, and 

development programme would be implemented, 

and include construction of an efficient 

conversion unit in the Kralupy refinery. 

This position was confirmed at the 

meeting of the Czech economic ministers 

held in April 1993. 

In essence, this plan corresponded with the 

Consortium’s proposal, but it did not engulf 

Shell’s proposed approach. In the second 

half of 1993, the foreign investors themselves 

launched an initiative aimed at combining 

their bids. They submitted their combined 

proposal to the Ministry of Industry and 

Trade in December 1993. The connection of 

Total, AgipPetroli, and Conoco with Shell 

gave rise to the International Oil Consortium 

(IOC), an unincorporated association based 

on internal agreement of its members. 

During the first half of 1994, the IOC proposal 

was elaborated in greater detail. 

The process of privatization of the Czech 

refinery/petrochemistry base was addressed, 

as was the construction of the new 

petroleum pipeline, the logistic and distribution 

network existing in the Czech Republic, 

and the development of the fuels 

markets in Central Europe. 

However, also early in 1994, Chemapol 

launched an initiative to privatise the refinery/petrochemistry 

base as one entity by 

establishing an association of the key play- 

ers: Chemapol, Chemopetrol and Kauãuk. 

Chemapol was motivated in its attempt by 

the desire to maintain its position in the 

market as a supplier of petroleum, otherwise, 

the Pardubice refinery would have 

been the only buyer of its supplies left, 

which would adversely affect Chemapol’s 

future prospects as a trading firm. The suggestion 

was made within the association 

that the refinery, petrochemical and other 

units and departments, as well as the service 

support units, would closely co-operate 

with one another. Foreign investors 

could then selectively enter those segments. 

The situation was discussed at the meeting 

of the Ministers of Economy in May 1994 

and the Ministers decided, in the first 

stage, to opt for the so-called Czech approach, 

i.e. privatization using domestic 

capital with a horizontal interconnection 

of the ownership of the entities involved. 

Foreign capital could then enter the busi- 

96

ness only in the second step, depending 

on the situation and on the new bids. 

However, the Czech government declined 

to approve this approach in July 1994 

and decided to further analyse the matter 

and the strategic implications of the proposed 

method of privatization of the refinery/ 

petrochemistry base. After detailed 

discussions, the government adopted its 

Resolution No. 532 in September 1994, 

containing the following decisions: 

– To open negotiations with the international 

petroleum companies on their 

entry into the Chemopetrol Litvínov 

and Kauãuk Kralupy refineries. 

– To specify detailed conditions and criteria 

for the entry of the IOC and submit 

them to the Government’s Privatization 

Commission. 

– To develop the overall sequence of organisational 

and legislative steps to 

ensure the ownership-based intercon- 

97 

nection of the Chemopetrol Litvínov 

and Kauãuk Kralupy. 

A decision by the government’s Privatization 

Commission dated 4th November 

1994 specified the conditions for the 

entry of foreign partners. One of the 

conclusions was that an entity named Unipetrol 

with its head office in Kralupy nad 

Vltavou should be established, and be 

authorised to represent the Czech side in 

negotiations with IOC on establishing a 

joint venture under the name âeská rafinérská 

with a head office in Litvínov. 

Negotiations on the Master Framework 

Agreement (MFA) were opened in January 

1995, and the Due Diligence exercise 

was started at the same time by teams of 

IOC experts and external consultants 

(simultaneously in both refineries). The 

group of negotiators included three representatives 

of Unipetrol and one representative 

of each of the 4 companies associ- 

Litvínov refinery-petrochemical site 

ated under the IOC, i.e. AgipPetroli, 

Conoco, Shell and Total. Consultants and 

legal experts were also involved in the negotiations. 

The negotiations on the Master 

Framework Agreement were very intensive 

about both the body of the agreement 

and in terms of the 32 specific appendices. 

The Due Diligence was completed after 

six weeks of work. Agreement was reached 

much later, on 15th June 1995. The 

MFA was initialled and prepared for discussion 

by the Czech government. However 

one day before the cabinet meeting, 

Total informed Mr. Vladimír Dlouh˘, Minister 

of Industry and Trade, that it wished 

to withdraw its bid and leave the IOC. The 

remaining three companies re-confirmed 

their proposals and their readiness to take 

over Total’s interest. The MFA was then 

signed by Miroslav Krejãí, Chairman 

of the Board of Directors of Unipetrol, 

W. Adrian Loader of Shell, David O. Kem

of Conoco, and Francesco Zofrea, Vice- 

President of AgipPetroli. 

In the spring of 1995, in parallel with the 

negotiation process, Chemopetrol Litvínov 

and Kauãuk Kralupy established âESKÁ 

RAFINÉRSKÁ, a.s. with its head office in 

Litvínov and with a share capital of CZK 

3 million. Ivan Ottis became Chairman of 

its three-member Board of Directors. 

Negotiations on the six major specific issues 

of the future activities of âeská rafinérská 

were opened that same summer, 

soon after the signing of the MFA. The negotiations 

were conducted, on the one 

side, by the future âeská rafinérská, i.e. 

by officers of the Litvínov and Kralupy 

refineries in collaboration with IOC 

experts, and, on the other side, by the 

remaining Czech entities, including Unipetrol, 

Chemopetrol, Kauãuk, MERO and 

âEPRO, and consultants and advisors for 

the Czech side. 

The following documents were prepared 

and then, on 15th November 1995 signed, 

in Prague’s Hrzánsk˘ Palace: 

– Shareholders’ Agreement on the 

Exercise of Shareholder Rights in 

âeská rafinérská 

– Shareholders’ Agreement on the 

Purchase and Sale of âeská rafinérská’s 

shares 

– Memorandum of the Shareholders 

and the Czech Government on the 

Procedure for Selling the Shares of 

âeská rafinérská. 

These documents codified the major aspects 

of the new company’s activities so 

as to ensure that it would start working by 

the end of 1995. The date of the transfer 

of fixed assets to âeská rafinérská was set 

at 31st December 1995. The new company 

started its business as such on 1 January 

1996, having acquired fixed assets 

from the parent companies and bought 

the operating capital of the stocks of petroleum, 

intermediates, and finished products, 

for which the company had opened 

a bridge loan of CZK 200 million. All employees 

of both refinery operations were 

transferred to the new company. 

At the General Meeting of âeská rafinérská’s 

shareholders, held in February 

1996, the Shareholders approved, within 

the meaning of the relevant agreements, 

the subscription to the new share issue 

with a nominal value of USD 168 million 

(CZK 4.5 billion) by AgipPetroli International 

B.V., Conoco Energy Inc., and Shell 

Overseas Investment B.V. 

At that same General Meeting, Shareholders 

approved an increase of the share 

capital by the parent companies by CZK 

4.6 billion and subscription to shares 

worth CZK 4.5 billion. The subscription 

was then effected on 25th March 1996. 

The Board of Directors was expanded to 

include seven members: Unipetrol nominated 

4 members, including the Chairman, 

and 3 members were nominated by 

the foreign shareholders. A new Supervisory 

Board was elected, consisting of 

4 representatives of Unipetrol, 3 representatives 

of the IOC and 3 representatives 

of employees. The Unipetrol representative 

was elected Chairman of the Supervisory 

Board. The organisation structure 

of the company consisted of 6 Divisions. 

Members of the Board of Directors shared 

responsibility for the following Divisions: 

Financial, Commercial, Technical, General 

Affairs, Planning and Development, 

and Investment divisions. 

ČESKÁ RAFINÉRSKÁ 

During the first year of its existence as a 

independent business entity, âeská rafinérská 

focused its activities on building a 

new organisation structure, strengthening 

the company’s market position, developing 

specific policies, and optimising petroleum 

purchasing from diversified sources 

depending on the development of 

demand. The company introduced a pricing 

policy based on the principle that 

selling prices be determined according to 

the changes in the inland premium in 

Central Europe. Price modifications, first 

made on monthly intervals, later on a 

weekly basis, became a primary interest 

of public attention. 

In establishing the company, the Shareholders 

defined three main areas for implementing 

its five-year capital expenditure 

programme, worth 480 million USD. 

These were: stay-in-business, environmental 

projects and development projects. 

The projects planned by the company included 

the following key objectives: increase 

the production of motor fuels and 

other types of fuel at the quality level 

required after 2000; achieve the required 

operational integrity of the production 

plants and facilities; and meet the environmental 

and labour safety standards. 

If the new company were to operate at an 

optimum, it would be necessary to estab- 

98

lish common conditions for its operation 

as a standard business entity. It was made 

up of two refinery plants at a 78 km distance 

from one another. The technological 

configurations of the two plants (described 

elsewhere in this publication) differed 

greatly. Company cultures of the two 

separate refineries had developed from 

different starting points. In addition to organisational 

differences between the production 

departments, there were differences 

in the accounting and personnel management 

systems, and in other areas. To 

address all these issues âeská rafinérská 

launched a process to integrate and transform 

the separate management and information 

systems into a single comprehensive 

system. A unified system was necessary 

to tie the two sites together through 

efficient and powerful links and to create 

specific management modules for the 

whole production planning, manufacturing 

and marketing cycle, including the 

support systems. 

The key question for âeská rafinérská, utilising 

the capacities of both the Kralupy 

and Litvínov refineries, was how to optimally 

define the contractual relations with 

the parent companies. These governed the 

hand-over of intermediate products 

(where âeská rafinérská’s products served 

as feedstock for Chemopetrol and Kauãuk, 

or vice versa) the utility supplies, particularly 

of electricity and steam, and also 

contractual arrangements on the use of 

facilities and on the provision of services 

in the manufacturing and other parts of 

the company. The shareholders had defined 

the main principles of these arrange- 

99 

ments in the foundation memoranda of 

1995 but it was now necessary to modify 

them and tailor them to specific situations. 

They represented a generally balanced 

package of agreements and envisaged 

their gradual modification as a result of 

negotiations on new agreements. 

In addition to innovations based on capital 

expenditure projects âeská rafinérská 

set itself ambitious targets in the areas of 

operating safety and reliability of equipment, 

labour safety and health at work, 

employees’ working environment, minimisation 

of adverse impacts on the residential 

areas around the plants, and openness 

to the public. By drawing on the best 

experience of its foreign Shareholders 

and implementing satisfactory policies, 

âeská rafinérská soon ranked among the 

best European refineries in terms of 

labour safety. It had significantly reduced 

the number of occupational injuries, fires 

and other accidents. By implementing a 

whole range of projects and system-level 

environmental measures, âeská rafinérská 

achieved a significant reduction of the 

emissions of sulphur dioxide, hydrogen 

sulphide and volatile hydrocarbons, thus 

meeting, with a broad margin for the 

future, the requirements of the applicable 

legal regulations. Scaling-down the production 

of heavy fuel oils containing up to 

3 % S (vol.) in 1999 and stopping production 

leaded petrol for the Czech market 

at the end of 2000 were two important 

landmarks. In addition to the marked reductions 

in emissions from the refineries, 

the low level of pollutants produced from 

âeská rafinérská’s products represents a 

valuable contribution towards retaining 

clean air not only at the two sites but also 

in the Czech cities and towns where motorcars 

use the refineries’ products. 

Central Control Room in Litvínov

Kralupy refinery at night 

âeská rafinérská took over all employees 

from the former refinery parts of the parent 

companies. Since then it implemented a streamlining 

and labour-saving programme and 

an extensive training programme, known as 

the operators’ multi-skill programme. This 

has resulted in increased knowledge/skills, 

increased responsibility and, in turn, increased 

wages/salaries. On the other hand, the 

company implemented a socially sensitive 

retraining programme for those employees 

released. New employees, including univer- 

sity graduates, have been hired, mainly to 

carry out new activities that had not been 

done by the parent companies (in the financial, 

commercial, legal, and other areas). 

Language courses and special training courses, 

often run at the foreign Shareholders’ 

companies, have been organised for all employees 

according their needs. 

The commissioning of both conversion 

units, installed to enable bottom-of-thebarrel 

petroleum processing, brought 

about a significant quality improvement 

to the life of âeská rafinérská. The new 

units (visbreaker and FCC) use the most 

advanced equipment and instrumentation, 

requiring perfect maintenance work 

and servicing systems. The Total Management 

System (TMS) has recently been 

fully implemented, leading to quality management 

system certification under 

âSN ISO 9001 and environmental protection 

system certification under âSN 

ISO 14001. 

100

Certifications and awards obtained in the areas of quality, safety and environmental protection 

The successful building of a modern company, 

the results achieved in the areas of 

labour safety, health at work, and environmental 

protection, the good public 

image of the company – all these are adequately 

appreciated by the Shareholders. 

Nominally, âeská rafinérská gained a significant 

profit between the years 1997 and 

2000 and was ranked among the top 

companies in the Czech Republic, while 

the first two years in new decade were 

more difficult. Following appraisal of 

changes in the competitive environment 

and the companies performance in this 

changing environment, a decision was 

taken to convert âeská rafinérská into a 

cost centre processing refinery starting 

from 1st August, 2003. 

101 

In accordance with EU regulations on motor 

fuel quality transposed into Czech legislation 

âeská rafinérská developed the 

“Clean Fuels” investment program exceeding 

expenses of CZK 1 billion. The implementation 

of the several projects allowed 

to supply mogases and diesel with sulfur 

content not exceeding 50 ppm since October 

2004 complying the quality requirements 

effective as of 2005. With part of its 

productions, âeská rafinérská met the EU 

requirements reducing the maximum sulfur 

content to 10 ppm – i.e. a standard supposed 

to take effect only in 2009. 

The tradition of the production of motor 

fuels, the expertise of employees in the 

production as well as other departments 

and, last but not least, the high standard 

of the activities carried out by âeská rafinérská 

will guarantee the continuation of 

the refinery processing of petroleum in the 

Czech Republic in the years to come. 

Among the key trends of the future are 

one toward an ever more competitive 

market environment and one toward ever 

more challenging demands placed on the 

environmental characteristics of products, 

emphasizing the minimization of adverse 

environmental impacts from production, 

the ability to communicate openly with the 

general public, and the maintenance of a 

high standard of business ethics. 

âeská rafinérská aims to embrace operational 

excellence as a responsible partner 

for its Shareholders, Processors and surrounding 

communities.

Members of Board of Česká rafinérská as of 31 st December 2004 

Ivan Ottis 1995–2003 Chairman, CEO 

Zbynûk Smrãka 1995–1996 

1996–2000 

Vice-chairman 

Pavel Nohava 1995–1996 

Barry N. Kumins 1996–1999 Vice-chairman 

Lars Lundquist 1996–1999 

Renato Bellini 1996–1998 

Milan Vyskoãil 1996–2002 

Miroslav Kadlec 1996–2000 

Alessandro Bartelloni 1998–1999 

Oscar Magnoni from 1999 

Eric V. Anderson from 1999 Vice-chairman 

John de Haseth 1999–2003 

Jifií Pavlas 2000–2002 

Miroslav Debnár 2001–2004 

Ivan Souãek from 2002 

from 2003 Chairman, CEO 

Franti‰ek ·amal 2002–2004 

Lennart Heldtander from 2003 

Jakub Ale‰a from 2004 

During the 1996–2003 period, âeská rafinérská operated as a merchandising refinery. As of 1 August 2003 âeská 

rafinérská became the processing refinery cost centre for the four marketing affiliates of its shareholders – AGIP âeská 

republika, s.r.o., ConocoPhillips Czech Republic, s.r.o., Shell Czech Republic, a.s., and Unipetrol Rafinérie, a.s. 

Entry of foreign shareholders to Česká rafinérská and increase in share capital 1996 

Chemopetrol Litvínov 

and Kaučuk Kralupy 

Share 

capital 

➧➧ 

AgipPetroli • Conoco • Shell 

Refinery assets 

Cash contribution 

and personnel 

CZK 9,348 

million 

168 million USD 

51 % shares 49 % shares (16.3 % each) 

102

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Written by Ludûk Holub, Oldfiich ·vajgl, Miroslav Nevosad, Ale‰ Soukup and Rostislav Kopal. 

Illustrations provided by âeská rafinérská, a.s., Asco, Benzina, a.s., Kauãuk Kralupy, a.s., MERO âR a.s., 

Moravské naftové doly, a.s., Mûstské muzeum Kralupy nad Vltavou, Okresní muzeum Most and âTK. 

Graphic design and production by Asco. 

For âeská rafinérská published by Asco – vydavatelství spol. s r. o. 

Praha 10, K LipanÛm 78 

April 2005 

ISBN 80-85377-97-7 

104

ISBN 80-85377-97-7

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