MiRO refinery
Also known as:
Karlsruhe, Mineralölraffinerie Oberrhein
MiRO is a large, medium complexity refinery in Germany
It is jointly owned by Shell (32.25%), Liwathon (25%), Rosneft (24%), and Phillips 66 (18.75%)
In 2022 the German government assumed control of Rosneft interest in its 3 German refineries as part of sanctions on Russia over Ukraine, and has ordered Rosneft to divest by March 2025.
The refinery receives crude by pipeline from the south via the Transalpine pipeline from Trieste. Crude slate is medium crude
Refinery configuration
Complexity: 9.7
Major process units:
Atmospheric distillation - 322 kbpd - 3 units
Vacuum distillation - 133 kbpd
Coker - 33 kbpd
FCC - 90 kbpd
Alkylation - 17 kbpd
C5/C6 Isomerization - 15 kbpd
Reformer - 33 kbpd Semiregen unit and 25 kbpd Continuous (CCR) unit
Naphtha hydrotreater - 78 kbpd
FCC gasoline hydrotreater - 40 kbpd
Distillate hydrotreater - 149 kbpd
VGO hydrotreater 82 kbpd
Land - 11319 acres
Employees - 1000 (including contractors)
Refinery history
1963 - Original two refineries built by Esso and Dea Scholven
1969 - Dea Scholven became OMW
1996 - Two sites merged to form MiRO forming JV between Esso (Exxon) and OMW
1983 - PDVSA formed Ruhr Oel JV with Veba Oel
2002 - Veba Oel acquired by BP
2011 - Rosneft acquired PDVSA share of ROG JV with BP
2016 - BP and Rosneft dissolved Ruhr Oel (ROG) JV and Rosneft assumed full ROG share of MiRO (24%)
2022 - The German government trusteeship control of Rosneft interests in its 3 German refineries.
2023 - ExxonMobil sold its 25% interest in the refinery to Liwathon