OREANDA-NEWS. Gazprom Neft has begun construction of a new liquid petroleum gas (LPG) facility at its Omsk Refinery, with the installation of key equipment now complete. The new automated 2,000 m3-capacity terminal replaces the current technological facility for the treatment and shipment of liquefied gases. Construction, installation and pre-commissioning works at the site are expected to be complete by June 2016.

The new facility has been designed in line with all industrial and ecological safety requirements, and will be equipped with cutting-edge automation, diagnostic and emergency response systems. The installation of pumping and storage equipment is now complete, with work now begun on the installation of equipment for a transformer substation and an odorising block, intended to feed an odorising compound into the gas to give it its characteristic odour. Work is also underway on the configuration of inter-connecting transfer systems and tie-ins to the existing pipeline network.

The launch of the new facility will see the commissioning of a single terminal for storage, processing and the shipment of market-ready products. The facility includes a mixing unit, and new open-type compressor station, a control room and a transformer unit. The re-equipping of the LPG automatic filling machine will increase opportunities for supplying automobile propane and commercial butane directly to consumers. The technological design of the facility allows LPG to be transported by pipeline, as well as by road and rail. Total investment in the project stands at more than RUB900 million.

The Gazprom Neft Omsk Refinery produced 431,500 tonnes of LPG in 2015.

Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) comprises a mixture of light hydrocarbons, liquidised under pressure, with a boiling point of —50 °C to 0 °C. It is designed to be used as a fuel, but can also be used as raw material for organic synthesis. The Gazprom Neft Omsk Refinery produces normal butane, propane-propylene fraction, domestic fuel gas (sold as commercial propane—butane mix, propane, and butane) and liquefied gases for road transport (sold as automobile propane—butane and automobile propane).