OREANDA-NEWS. The Omsk Oil Refinery has begun developing design specifications and cost estimates for production facilities that are planned for construction and modernization as part of the second stage of the refinery's 2020 development program. The program's second stage is focused on raising the oil conversion depth. According to the mid-term investment program, Gazprom Neft will allocate over 50 billion rubles for modernization of the Omsk Oil Refinery in 2013-2015.

In 2012, the Omsk Oil Refinery completed the first stage of its development program with the goal of improving the product quality. The refinery also put on-stream a new motor fuel hydroskimming facility, which includes a catalytic cracking gasoline hydrotreatment unit and a diesel fuel hydrotreatment unit. This allowed the Omsk Oil Refinery to switch completely to the production of class 4 and class 5 high-octane gasoline, and also launch class 5 diesel fuel.

Under the program, the following facilities will be built at the Omsk Oil Refinery: a CDU/VDU (crude distillation unit/vacuum distillation unit) primary oil refining structure, a delayed coking unit, and an advanced oil processing center. There are also plans to renovate a portion of the refinery's production capacity and off-site facilities.

The completion of the new CDU/VDU primary oil refining facility is slated for the end of 2016. Once it is up and running, three previous-generation primary oil processing units will be decommissioned. This ambitious project seeks to renovate the production facilities, increase the operational preparedness, reliability, and safety of operations, and ease environmental impact. Commissioning of the delayed coking unit, which is slated for 2017, will make it possible to increase the oil conversion depth and the light oil products yield. The advanced oil processing center, which will include a vacuum gasoil hydrocracking unit, a sulfur unit, and a hydrogen unit, will be built by 2018. Its commissioning will help raise the production of environmental grade 5 motor fuels and the oil conversion depth.