History
The company's beginnings date back to the British Mandate for Palestine when Consolidated Refineries Limited (CRL), a joint venture of Shell and the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (now BP),[8] 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 near Kirkuk in then British-controlled Iraq.[9]
Construction of the first refinery unit started in 1938 and was carried out by the M. W. Kellogg Co. with assistance from Solel Boneh, 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.[10]
During World War II, the complex supplied refined products to British and American forces operating in the Mediterranean and Middle East theatre, and was bombed many times during the early stage of the war[11] by Italy.[12] Damage to the refineries was quickly repaired.[13][14]
On December 30, 1947, a group from the Irgun threw two bombs from a passing car into a crowd of Arab workers, killing 6 and injuring 42. In response, Arab workers rioted, beating 39 Jewish workers to death and wounding 49. The two events became known as the Haifa Oil Refinery massacre.[15]
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.[16][17][18]
Since rebranding, 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 over oil refining in the country. This changed in 2006, when Israel's Government Companies Authority, headed by Eyal Gabbai started privatization processes.[19]
On August 1, 2006, the Ashdod facilities were sold to the Paz Oil Company for 3.5 billion ILS.[20] In February 2007, 44% of the shares were sold to institutional investors.[21] Following this, 46% were sold to the Ofer-Federman group at 3.30 ILS per share,[22] with the remaining shares sold in an IPO on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange in 2007.[20][23] There were more than 5,500 requests to buy shares, an unprecedented number.[24]
The company's iconic and historic cooling towers were removed from service in 2008. One of the towers was converted into a visitor center, which is open to the public for free, and include multi-sensory tours.[25] On June 12, 2020, the eastern cooling tower unexpectedly collapsed.[26][27]
In 2009 the Bazan Group and Olefins companies merged and in 2010 Haifa Basic Oils was fully purchased by Bazan.[28] In 2012 Bazan commissioned UOP's Unicracking strategies in its plants for production of liquid petroleum gas, naphtha, and kerosene.[29]
The facility was struck by two Iranian missiles on 16 June 2025, during the Twelve-Day War. The attack caused a complete shutdown of the facility and resulted in the death of three employees. Bazan Company also reported heavy damage to the refinery's facilities and announced its temporary closure in a statement. The statement stated that the fire had not been extinguished until the day after the attack.[30] The facility was struck by an Iranian missile on 30 March 2026, during the Iran War, causing a smaller fire with no injuries.[31]
More than 70% of ORL's products are distributed locally (for private and public purposes) and the rest is exported.[32] 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.[33]
