MOSCOW (MRC) -- Presidential Plenipotentiary Envoy to the Southern Federal District Vladimir Ustinov, Russian Minister of Energy Nikolai Shulginov, Governor of the Volgograd region Andrei Bocharov and President of Lukoil Vagit Alekperov took part in the opening of a high-viscosity index oils production complex at the Volgograd refinery, according to Hydrocarbonprocessing.
The production facility includes a de-asphalting unit and a fractionation unit for unconverted oil. The construction of the complex started in October 2018. This project is a part of Lukoil's program to upgrade its lubricants production assets. Implementation of the program will provide consumers with efficient high-tech products that hold up to the best international standards.
Use of advanced high viscosity base stocks renders possible production of engine oils suitable for modern industrial vehicles and cargo trucks that function in rough environments and cold weather. Another major advantage of these oils is their increased oxidation resistance, which provides for longer drain periods. Lukoil's cumulative investment in the new facility amounts to 10 billion roubles.
The company also continues construction of the second stage of the solar power plant (SPP) with installed capacity of 20 MW at the Volgograd refinery. Its launch, set for 2021, will increase the SPP total capacity up to 30 MW.
Commissioning of the second stage of the SPP will also provide additional 24 million kWh of green energy per year, which is equal to an annual reduction of CO2 emissions by 12 thousand tons.
"Today we are here to launch a unique production facility, and it is not just about equipment, it is about people. Over 4 thousand employees work here. Therefore, this launch affects not only production, but also social sphere. I have been to the Volgograd refinery a number of times and each time I see changes, I see something new. Congratulations on opening the new complex and thank you for everything you do," said Vladimir Ustinov, Presidential Plenipotentiary Envoy to the Southern Federal District.
"Lukoil is a leader in modernization of refineries. Between 2011 and 2020, the company invested over 163 billion roubles under four-way agreements. Ten secondary processing units were commissioned at Lukiol 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," said Nikolai Shulginov, Russian Minister of Energy.
"Lukoil is a strategic partner of the Volgograd region. The company carries out many large-scale investment projects and honours its commitments. With the opening of the new complex, the Volgograd region and the whole of Russia will receive products that hold up to world's highest standards, and this will directly support import substitution. The launch of the project will also decrease energy demand, lessen environmental load and improve quality of the products," noted Andrei Bocharov, Governor of the Volgograd region.
?"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," noted Vagit Alekperov, President of Lukoil.
As MRC informed earlier, Russian energy major Lukoil (Moscow) is studying several potential petrochemical projects in Russia and Bulgaria, with investment decisions expected to be made on two of them in 2021.
Thus, Lukoil announced an investment decision in June, 2019, to proceed with a 500,000-metric tons/year polypropylene (PP) plant at its Kstovo refinery. In September this year it selected Lummus Technology’s Novolen PP technology and basic design engineering for the facility’s production unit. Kstovo is one of Lukoil’s largest crude refineries in Russia with a throughput of 17 million metric tons/year, with the company recently adding a catalytic cracking unit that almost doubled the refinery’s production of propylene feedstock to 300,000 metric tons/year.
At Budennovsk in Russia’s far south west, the company’s Stavrolen petchems complex currently has the capacity to produce 350,000 metric tons/year of ethylene, 300,000 metric tons of polyethylene (PE), 120,000 metric tons/year of PP, and 80,000 metric tons of benzene. Lukoil has for several years been considering construction of a new gas chemicals plant at Stavrolen to crack more ethane extracted from associated petroleum gas produced by its oil and gas fields in the north of the Caspian Sea. The potential new plant would raise Stavrolen’s ethylene and PE output to around 600,000 metric tons/year each, and increase PP production to 200,000 metric tons/year.
Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing PE and PP.
According to MRC's DataScope report, PE imports to Russia decreased in January-November 2020 by 17% year on year and reached 569,900 tonnes. High density polyethylene (HDPE) accounted for the greatest reduction in imports. At the same time, PP imports into Russia increased by 21% year on year to about 202,000 tonnes in the first eleven months of 2020. Propylene homopolymer (homopolymer PP) accounted for the main increase in imports.
Lukoil is one of the leading vertically integrated oil companies in Russia. The main activities of the company include exploration and production of oil and gas, production and sale of petroleum products. Lukoil is the second largest privately-owned oil company in the world in terms of proven hydrocarbon reserves. Lukoil's production capacities include polyethylene polypropylene. The structure of Lukoil includes one of the largest petrochemical plant in Russia - Stavrolen.
MRC