XXVI. GERMAN OIL PRODUCTION
Dr. Bütefisch of Leuna was Chairman of the Wirtschaftgruppe for fuel production and of A.R.S.Y.N., the organisation which co-ordinated the production programmes of the various German refineries. He was questioned regarding the overall German oil position and supplied the figures given in Table IX
The capacity figures in brackets refer to plant in course of construction. Lubricating oil figures refer to production by direct refining of oil products and do not include synthetic lube oils such as those made by polymerization of ethylene. Production of liquefied butane and propane is not shown in the table but was normally 25-30,000 tons/month. Most of the Rumanian and Hungarian oil products were supplied direct to the armed forces in the Eastern areas and these supplies are not included in the table. The total Rumanian crude production was said to be roughly 6,000,000 tons/year.
Of the German crude oil production of 1,920,000 tons/year from the Hanover district, 200,000 tons/year from Heide and the remainder from Baden and the Polish frontier area. The German crudes, particularly those from Austria which contained only 5-7% petrol, were particularly good for lubricating oil production.
Examination of the table shows the overwhelming contribution of the hydrogenation plants to German aviation fuel production. It is also interesting to note the negligible extent to which Fischer-Tropsch activities were in process of extension.
Further data on German achieved and planned production of oil products were obtained in the form of graphs which were found in Dr. Bütefisch’s Leuna office. These data are reasonably in line with those supplied personally by Dr. Bütefisch. Nine of the graphs are reproduced in this report as Figs. XL, XLI, XLII, XLIII, XLIV, XLV, XLVI, XLVII, XLVIII.
Dr. Bütefisch and Dr. Ottens supplied the data in Table X on the latest specification for German oil products.