Refinery Sector: Czechowice Refinery.

Built between 1902 and 1905 by the American joint-stock company Vacum Oil Company, part of the Rockefeller concern Vacuum Oil Company.

From the outset, the Americans employed state-of-the-art technologies at the Czechowice refinery. The refinery’s processing capacity in 1909, after expansion, reached 35,000 tons of crude oil per year.

In 1912, it was the largest refinery in the northern part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. In 1925, it employed 273 workers.

Production covered a wide range of petroleum products, including several dozen types of lubricanting oils. Vacuum Oil Company Ltd.’s Mobiloil and Mobilgrease products were renowned throughout Poland, available at gas stations and considered the best. During the occupation, the refinery’s production was primarily focused on the production of oils and gasoline, which supplied the German army’s transportation vehicles.

On August 20, 1944, the American air force bombed the refinery. Major installations and several large storage tanks were completely destroyed.

In 1945, work began on clearing the area and restoring the existing installations to operational condition. Reconstruction and expansion lasted until 1949. The refinery’s processing capacity was increased to 600,000 tons of oil per year, while it was simultaneously modernized through the construction of new branches.

On the evening of Saturday, June 26, 1971, a fire broke out at the refinery. Firefighting operations lasted until July 1, involving two and a half thousand firefighters. The landscape after the refinery fire was shocking. The material destruction was enormous, and the human toll was tragic. 37 people died in the fire.

In 1976, pursuant to a decree of the Minister of Chemistry, the Czechowice refinery was merged with the refinery in Trzebinia, under joint management, with its headquarters in Czechowice, under the name Silesian Refinery Works named after Ludwik Waryński. In 1980, the refinery returned to its independent status.

From June 2003, the refinery was part of Lotos.

As part of Lotos’s strategy, on September 22, 2005, a resolution was passed to discontinue crude oil processing at the Czechowice-based company as of March 31, 2006. After that, the refinery became a fuel storage and distribution base, as well as a production center for biocomponents for diesel fuel for Lotos.