PJSC LUKOIL is cooperating with local government on construction of a grassroots catalytic cracking complex at subsidiary LLC LUKOIL-Permnefteorgsintez’s 13.1-million tonnes/year (tpy) refinery in Russia’s North Urals region, on the north bank of the Kama River (OGJ Online, Aug. 20, 2021).
The operator signed a Sept. 8 memorandum of understanding (MOU) regarding the refinery investment project, LUKOIL said.
Specific details of the MOU, however, were not revealed.
Alongside a 1.8-million tpy catalytic cracking unit featuring high flexibility to adjust its yield of propylene, the proposed grassroots complex also will include construction of a unit for production of high-octane gasoline components and associated off-site installations, LUKOIL said in August.
Part of LUKOIL’s ongoing program to upgrade and modernize its Russian refining system to ensure long-term competitiveness and improve production qualities, the planned Perm catalytic cracking complex specifically aims to increase production of high-octane motor gasoline, as well as to begin production of polymer-grade propylene, which will be used as feedstock at the operator’s petrochemical production sites.
Scheduled for startup in 2026, the new complex follows the Russian Ministry of Energy’s agreement to an incentive plan granting LUKOIL an investment premium to the refundable excise tax on crude oil until Jan. 1, 2031, that will support completion of the project.
The Perm refinery currently has a catalytic cracking capacity of 9,300 b/d, according to the latest data available on the operator’s website.
In addition to commissioning new units earlier this year as part of its broader upgrading program at subsidiaries OOO LUKOIL-Volgogradneftepererabotka’s 14.8-million tpy Volgograd refinery in southern Russia and LLC Lukoil-Nizhegorodnefteorgsintez’s (NNOS) 17-million tpy Kstovo refinery in central Russia’s Nizhny Novgorod region, LUKOIL said it also remains on schedule to fully commission NNOS’ long-planned deep conversion, delayed coking at Nizhny Novgorod by yearend (OGJ Online, June 18, 2021; Jan. 29, 2021).
