BAZAN Group, (ORL or BAZAN, ), formerly Oil Refineries Ltd., is an oil refining and

petrochemical Petrochemicals (sometimes abbreviated as petchems) are the chemical products obtained from petroleum by refining. Some chemical compounds made from petroleum are also obtained from other fossil fuels, such as coal or natural gas, or renewable sou ...

s company located in

Haifa Bay The Bay of Haifa or Haifa Bay ( he, מפרץ חיפה, ''Mifratz Heifa''), formerly Bay of Acre, is a bay along the Mediterranean coast of Northern Israel. Haifa Bay is Israel's only natural harbor on the Mediterranean. ''Haifa Bay'' also ref ...

, Israel. It operates the largest

oil refinery An oil refinery or petroleum refinery is an industrial process plant where petroleum (crude oil) is transformed and refined into useful products such as gasoline (petrol), diesel fuel, asphalt base, fuel oils, heating oil, kerosene, lique ...

in the country. ORL has a total oil refining capacity of approximately 9.8 million tons of crude oil per year with a

Nelson complexity index The Nelson complexity index (NCI) is a measure to compare the secondary conversion capacity of a petroleum refinery with the primary distillation capacity. The index provides an easy metric for quantifying and ranking the complexity of various re ...

of 9. ORL provides a variety of products used in industrial operations, agriculture and transportation. ORL is Israel's largest integrated refining and petrochemical facility. The company also provides storage and transportation services for oil fuel products, as well as electricity and steam to industrial customers in the region.

History

The company's beginnings date back to the

British Mandate for Palestine The Mandate for Palestine was a League of Nations mandate for British administration of the territories of Palestine and Transjordan, both of which had been conceded by the Ottoman Empire following the end of World War I in 1918. The manda ...

when Consolidated Refineries Limited (CRL), a joint venture of

Shell Shell may refer to: Architecture and design * Shell (structure), a thin structure ** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses ** Thin-shell structure Science Biology * Seashell, a hard o ...

and the Anglo-American Oil Company (now

Esso Esso () is a trading name for ExxonMobil. Originally, the name was primarily used by its predecessor Standard Oil of New Jersey after the breakup of the original Standard Oil company in 1911. The company adopted the name "Esso" (the phonetic p ...

), started constructing a sprawling refinery complex which sat at the end of the British-built Mosul-Haifa oil pipeline which stretched from the

oil fields A petroleum reservoir or oil and gas reservoir is a subsurface accumulation of hydrocarbons contained in porous or fractured rock formations. Such reservoirs form when kerogen (ancient plant matter) is created in surrounding rock by the presence ...

near

Kirkuk Kirkuk ( ar, كركوك, ku, کەرکووک, translit=Kerkûk, , tr, Kerkük) is a city in Iraq, serving as the capital of the Kirkuk Governorate, located north of Baghdad. The city is home to a diverse population of Turkmens, Arabs, Kurds, ...

in then British-controlled

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

. Construction of the first refinery unit started in 1938 and was carried out by the M. W. Kellogg Co. with assistance from

Solel Boneh Solel Boneh ( he, סולל בונה, lit. ''Paving and Building'') is the oldest, and one of the largest, construction and civil engineering companies in Israel. History During British rule (1921-1948) Solel Boneh was founded in 1921 in British ...

, with an annual capacity of two million tons of crude oil. Construction was completed in 1944, increasing the annual yield to four million tons of crude oil. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the complex supplied refined products to British and American forces operating in the

Mediterranean and Middle East theatre The Mediterranean and Middle East Theatre was a major theatre of operations during the Second World War. The vast size of the Mediterranean and Middle East theatre saw interconnected naval, land, and air campaigns fought for control of the Medit ...

, and was bombed many times during the early stage of the war, by Italy. Damage to the refineries was quickly repaired. Due to concerns about the Arab League Boycott, the British Government sold CRL to the State of Israel in 1958 which then changed its name to Oil Refineries Ltd. Since then the complex has undergone significant expansion and upgrades. In the past, ORL also owned the Ashdod Oil Refinery in southern Israel and therefore as a company, it held a

monopoly A monopoly (from Greek language, Greek el, μόνος, mónos, single, alone, label=none and el, πωλεῖν, pōleîn, to sell, label=none), as described by Irving Fisher, is a market with the "absence of competition", creating a situati ...

over oil refining in the country. This changed in 2006, when Israel's Government Companies Authority, headed by

Eyal Gabbai Eyal Gabbai (born in 1967 in Jerusalem) was the Director-General of the Israeli Prime Minister's Office from 2009 to 2011. He served as director of the Government Companies Authority and the Israeli branch director of the Australian investment f ...

started privatization processes. On August 1, 2006, the Ashdod facilities were sold to the Paz Oil Company for 3.5 billion ILS. In February 2007, 44% of the shares were sold to institutional investors. Following this, 46% were sold to the Ofer-Federman group at 3.30 ILS per share, with the remaining shares sold in an IPO on the

Tel Aviv Stock Exchange The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE; ; colloquially known as The Bursa, ) is Israel's only public stock exchange and a public company that has been traded on the Tel-Aviv Stock Exchange since August 1, 2019. Legally, the exchange is regulated by ...

in 2007. There were more than 5,500 requests to buy shares, an unprecedented number. Since 2008 the company's historic cooling towers have not been in use. One of the towers was converted into a visitor's center, which is open to the public for free, multi-sensory tours. In 2009 the Bazan Group and Olefins companies merged and in 2010 Haifa Basic Oils was fully purchased by Bazan. In 2012 Bazan commissioned UOP's Unicracking strategies in its plants for production of

liquid petroleum gas Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG or LP gas) is a fuel gas which contains a flammable mixture of hydrocarbon gases, specifically propane, propylene, butylene, isobutane and n-butane. LPG is used as a fuel gas in heating appliances, cooking equ ...

naphtha Naphtha ( or ) is a flammable liquid hydrocarbon mixture. Mixtures labelled ''naphtha'' have been produced from natural gas condensates, petroleum distillates, and the distillation of coal tar and peat. In different industries and regions ''n ...

, and

kerosene Kerosene, paraffin, or lamp oil is a combustible hydrocarbon liquid which is derived from petroleum. It is widely used as a fuel in aviation as well as households. Its name derives from el, κηρός (''keros'') meaning "wax", and was regi ...

. More than 70% of ORL's products are distributed locally (for private and public purposes) and the rest is exported. The company is a direct employer of 1,500 workers and an additional 2,000 contractors; the majority of employees are residents of Haifa and the northern region of Israel. On June 12, 2020, the eastern cooling tower unexpectedly collapsed.

Subsidiaries

Carmel Olefins is Israel's sole manufacturer of petrochemical products that are used as raw materials for the plastics industry. Carmel manufactures standard and special grades of

polypropylene Polypropylene (PP), also known as polypropene, is a thermoplastic polymer used in a wide variety of applications. It is produced via chain-growth polymerization from the monomer propylene. Polypropylene belongs to the group of polyolefins and ...

(PP) as well as a broad range of

low density polyethylene Low-density polyethylene (LDPE) is a thermoplastic made from the monomer ethylene. It was the first grade of polyethylene, produced in 1933 by Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) using a high pressure process via free radical polymerization. Its ...

(LDPE) grades. Gadiv Petrochemicals, opened in 1974, manufactures and supplies a range of petrochemicals products including

aromatic hydrocarbon Aromatic compounds, also known as "mono- and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons", are organic compounds containing one or more aromatic rings. The parent member of aromatic compounds is benzene. The word "aromatic" originates from the past grouping ...

s, aliphatic solvents and intermediates for pharmaceutical, plastic, food and chemical industries. Haifa Basic Oils produces base oils and

paraffin wax Paraffin wax (or petroleum wax) is a soft colorless solid derived from petroleum, coal, or oil shale that consists of a mixture of hydrocarbon molecules containing between 20 and 40 carbon atoms. It is solid at room temperature and begins to m ...

, exporting nearly 50% of its products to overseas companies.

Partnerships and innovation

In 2018 Bazan launched BNNovation, an innovation initiative to grow small and larger companies in the fields of energy, renewable energy, and industry. In 2019, BNNovation was among the founders of ESIL Technologies, an international team operating a lab for cleantech innovation and environmental protection. Also in 2019, Bazan won the tender to establish an environmental innovation lab in Haifa Bay together with the Israeli branch of

EDF Renewables EDF Renewables (formerly ''EDF Renouvelables'') is a wholly owned subsidiary of the French utility EDF Group, specializing in renewable energy production. As an integrated operator, the Group develops and finances the construction of renewable en ...

and

Johnson Matthey Johnson Matthey is a British multinational speciality chemicals and sustainable technologies company headquartered in London, England. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. History Early years ...

. Partners include

Haier Haier Group Corporation () is a Chinese multinational home appliances and consumer electronics company headquartered in Qingdao, Shandong. It designs, develops, manufactures and sells products including refrigerators, air conditioners, washin ...

Group Corporation and Leumi Partners. On November 16, 2020, Bazan signed a MOU with the Emirtati energy company Mazrui International to import polymers that are not made in Israel. In Nov 2021,

UBQ Materials UBQ Materials is an Israeli cleantech company created to convert unsorted household waste into a thermoplastic composite. The company's primary product, UBQ, is a thermoplastic, sold in the form of pellets, that can be used to substitute for wood ...

signed with Bazan to provide climate-friendly thermoplastics for resin products.

Environmental impact

BAZAN Group's vast petrochemical plants have released significant amounts of pollution to the environment around Haifa Bay. The company has set goals to reduce air pollution, including investing over a billion dollars to develop environmentally-friendly systems. Starting in March 2011, after being connected to the new national

natural gas Natural gas (also called fossil gas or simply gas) is a naturally occurring mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons consisting primarily of methane in addition to various smaller amounts of other higher alkanes. Low levels of trace gases like carbo ...

distribution grid, the plants switched to using natural gas (rather than mostly

fuel oil Fuel oil is any of various fractions obtained from the distillation of petroleum (crude oil). Such oils include distillates (the lighter fractions) and residues (the heavier fractions). Fuel oils include heavy fuel oil, marine fuel oil (MFO), bun ...

) as their main power source, thus greatly reducing the amount of air pollution emanating from the complex. In 2012, the company also completed a

hydrocracking In petrochemistry, petroleum geology and organic chemistry, cracking is the process whereby complex organic molecules such as kerogens or long-chain hydrocarbons are broken down into simpler molecules such as light hydrocarbons, by the breaking of ...

unit. The switch to natural gas was expected to save the company US$200 million per year in fuel and other costs. In 2014 ORL acquired systems for treating hazards related to smells and treating emissions of volatile organic materials. In 2020, ORL published its first report for Corporate Responsibility since 2011, including its achievements in reducing benzene emissions and facilitating healthier environmental conditions. In December 2020 BAZAN announced a $3.7 million project to create, compress and transport hydrogen with the ultimate goal of bringing hydrogen-fueled cars to Israel. In April 2021, a government CEO committee assigned to resolve Haifa's decline, suggested a full closure of Bazan group's facilities within 10 years, is required. In July 2021, Bazan presented plans to become the leading Israeli supplier of

renewable energy Renewable energy is energy that is collected from renewable resources that are naturally replenished on a human timescale. It includes sources such as sunlight, wind, the movement of water, and geothermal heat. Although most renewable energy ...

and

alternative fuel Alternative fuel, known as non-conventional and advanced fuels, are any materials or substances that can be used as fuels, other than conventional fuels like; '' fossil fuels'' (petroleum (oil), coal, and natural gas), as well as nuclear mat ...

s at a conference in

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...

. The company announced it would make $1.5 billion in capital investments by 2030, and laid out a three-pronged strategy built in accordance with international

ESG ESG may refer to : Groups * Election Support Group, an internationally sponsored organization analyzing and supporting the electoral process in Pakistan * ES Guelma, an Algerian football club based in Guelma * Escuela Superior de Guerra (Argenti ...

standards. The company announced a set objective of 15% green

polymer A polymer (; Greek '' poly-'', "many" + ''-mer'', "part") is a substance or material consisting of very large molecules called macromolecules, composed of many repeating subunits. Due to their broad spectrum of properties, both synthetic a ...

s by 2025 and 30% by 2030.

References

External links