OREANDA-NEWS. April 26, 2010. The opening of navigation on the Volga river has allowed the loading berths at the Uveksky oil terminal of Saratovnefteproduct  and the Saratov Oil Refinery (part of TNK-BP) to begin 24-hour shipments of oil products for consumers. On average, the Uveksky terminal can load 8,000 tons of product a day, while the Saratov refinery can load 3,000 tons a day, reported the press-centre of TNK-BP.     

During the navigable period, planned monthly volumes of shipments will be up to 100,000 tons of vacuum gasoil and up to 60,000 tons of diesel fuel. In anticipation of the beginning of the navigation period, a new process schematic was assembled at the Saratov refinery that will allow loading all brands that the refinery produces.

The berth at the Uveksky terminal of Saratovnefteproduct plans to ship 35,000 tons of fuel along the Volga in April.

Last year, a unit that automatically accounts for shipped product was commissioned at the Uveksky terminal. It has significantly reduced the time spent on measuring, increased accuracy, helps reduce routine manual operation and has improved working conditions.

A system of buoyant harbor booms that is one-of-a-kind in Russia was built at the entrance to the artificial bay of the Uveksky terminal. This investment project won an Award of the Chairman of the Board of Directors in the industrial safety and environment sector. A single person controls the buoyant booms remotely, and only eight minutes of exposure to the boom is required. This minimizes the risk of oil products leaking from the artificial bay into the main channel of the Volga if there is an accident.

“Using the river canal for fuel deliveries is aimed at improving the unit’s productiveness and has increased the export potential of the company,” said Alexander Romanov, General Director of Saratov Oil Refinery. “Therefore we plan to continue to work to increase the volume of shipments along the river and to optimize the corresponding business processes at the Saratov refinery. We devote much attention at our unit to issues relating to health, safety and environment. The Volga berths are no exception, and the safe loading and unloading is conducted under the watchful supervision of our HSE specialists. Furthermore, the improved standards are required not only from the refinery, but also from contractors.”