MOSCOW (MRC) -- Five Russian refineries are expected to finish upgrades of their gasoline production units this year, with the new capacity potentially allowing Russia to boost exports of high-octane gasoline, according to Reuters calculations and trading sources.
Following the upgrades, high-octane gasoline production in Russia will have the potential to increase by up to 4.5 MMtpy, the calculations showed.
Russian refineries produced a total of 38.3 MMt of high-octane gasoline last year, of which almost 35 MMt were consumed domestically, while the remainder, or 3.35 MMt, was exported.
If Russia decides to use in full all the capacity it gets after the upgrades, and with fuel consumption at home flat, it may significantly increase its high-octane gasoline exports, the calculations showed.
As MRC wrote previously, in June 2016, Rosneft and China Petrochemical Corporation (Sinopec Group) signed a Framework Agreement on joint pre-feasibility study of the project related to the construction and operation of a gas processing and petrochemical complex in East Siberia.
The project will meet the growing demand for polyethylene and polypropylene in Russia and in China. It is assumed that the annual capacity of the new complex near the administrative center of Boguchany District will be 5 BCM of gas yielding up to 3 mln tons of polymers and petrochemical products primarily for sale on the Russian and Chinese markets. The resource base of the project comprises Rosneft oil and gas fields of Yurubcheno-Takhomsky cluster in East Siberia.
MRC