OREANDA-NEWS. November 26, 2010. The Saratov Oil Refinery (a subsidiary of TNK-BP) has begun producing gasoline and diesel fuel certified for conformance with Euro 3 standards as part of a long-term TNK-BP program to improve the quality and expand the range of its products, reported the press-centre of TNK-BP.

The transition to Euro 3 fuel is one stage in a major investment program by TNK-BP, aimed at producing Euro 4 and Euro 5-standard petroleum products at the Saratov Oil Refinery.

Over the next two years the company plans to build an isomerisation unit at the refinery, to renovate its hydro treatment facilities and carry out other projects at a total cost of over USD300 mln.

“Production of Euro 3 mogas and diesel fuel at the Saratov Oil Refinery is aimed at meeting the new technical regulations on switching to the production of environmental class 3 fuel from January 2011. The refinery has achieved this ahead of schedule. In addition, production of the new type of fuel will help the environment and reduce the adverse environmental impact of vehicles, which are responsible for over 80% of all hazardous atmospheric emissions. But the most important thing is that by buying fuel at TNK’s service stations the customer gets an opportunity to use high quality fuel for his car”, said Aleksandr Romanov, General Director of the Saratov Oil Refinery.

Before the new fuel was put into production it was subjected to laboratory and stand tests, including performance checks in vehicle engines under the supervision of leading Russian fuel industry research centres. The results showed a reduction in the toxicity of the exhaust gases and an improvement in technical characteristics due to the fuel’s different chemical composition and refining process.