Russia’s oil producer Lukoil has commissioned RUB10bn ($131.6m) high-viscosity index oils production complex at the 14.8 million tonnes/year Volgograd refinery in southern Russia.
Construction on the new production facility, which comprises a de-asphalting unit and a fractionation unit for unconverted oil, started in October 2018.
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The project forms part of Lukoil’s programme to upgrade its lubricants production assets and provide efficient high-tech products to consumers.
Russian Minister of Energy Nikolai Shulginov said: “Between 2011 and 2020, the company invested over 163 billion roubles under four-way agreements.
“Ten secondary processing units were commissioned at LUKOIL refineries. This year, an isomerization unit is set for launch at the refinery located in the city of Kstovo, Nizhny Novgorod region.
“All this enabled Lukoil to become the first Russian company that produces only fuels compliant with class 5 environmental standards.”
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By GlobalDataConstruction is also underway for Lukoil’s second phase of the solar power plant (SPP) with 20MW of installed capacity at the Volgograd refinery.
Upon completion of the SPP second phase this year, the capacity of the power plant is expected to increase to up to 30MW, while providing an additional 24 million kWh of green energy per year.
Volgograd region governor Andrei Bocharov said that with the new complex, Russia will receive products that hold up to the world’s highest standards, and directly support import substitution.
Bocharov added: “The launch of the project will also decrease energy demand, lessen environmental load and improve quality of the products.”
Lukoil president Vagit Alekperov said: ”The Volgograd refinery is one of the most efficient in Russia. Over the years, LUKOIL invested 172 billion roubles in its modernization, thus increasing depth of refining to 96.7%.
“Nowadays, despite the pandemic, we carry on with selected investment projects to further enhance the product range of our refineries. For example, this year we plan to commission a delayed coking unit at our Nizhny Novgorod refinery.”
In August 2020, Lukoil launched a major project aimed at the ‘modernisation’ of Yarega field oil mines and associated infrastructure.
