Old bomb stops production in Czechia

Orlen, Czechia’s largest petrochemical company, halted production at its refining and chemical complex in Záluží, Czechia, on Aug. 24 after discovering a World War II bomb at the site. The complex is located near the town of Litvínov, about 60 km north of Prague. Orlen evacuated staff from the refinery and ethylene cracker the day after the discovery. The company closed the complex 3 days later. Czechia authorities were not due to make the bomb safe until at least Aug. 30. “As a consequence of this extraordinary situation, crude oil processing in our Litvínov refinery plant as well as production at the steam cracker unit and the polymerization units are severely impacted,” the company says in a press release. Orlen says the incident is a force majeure event that it could not have foreseen and that, as a consequence, it is not obligated to fulfill contracts to supply certain products.