Representatives from oil and gas companies, ministries, design institutes, key products and equipment, technologies and service suppliers will be invited to discuss how to prevent the industry from falling further into crisis and what can be done to successfully resolve the current situation.

Experts agree that the recovery process will be lengthy and full of uncertainty, which is why it is important to approach it systematically and with the understanding that it is a decades-long task.

The current state and prospects of the oil refining industry were presented by Oleg Skorobogatko, Head of Oil Refining Directorate of Oil & Gas Analytics Department, Fuel and Energy Complex Analytical Center. Director for Strategy and Transformation of Implementa, Alexander Bylkin, noted in his report that in order to achieve the functional development of oil refining, it is necessary to rely on effective management and integration of industry competencies. Representatives of Gazprombank and IAS Engineering and Consulting moved on to a more specific topic, talking about such tools for development as banking financial and technical audit of refinery modernization projects and banking support of contracts.

As part of the first open discussion “Russian refining: developments that are moving the industry forward”, representatives of Gubkin Russian State University of Oil and Gas, A.V.Topchiev Institute of Petrochemical Synthesis, RAS and LUKOIL discussed the main drivers for the successful development of the industry.

Vladimir Kapustin, Head of Oil Refining Technology Department at the Gubkin Russian State University of Oil & Gas, spoke about the problems of modernizing Russian refineries in light of the agreement with the Russian Ministry of Energy. He noted that the reason oil refineries are postponing the main launches of units until 2026 is the refusal of foreign companies to continue contracts for the design, equipment supply, new facilities construction and reconstruction of existing ones. Next, the conference participants were presented with a practical example of Gazpromneft - Omsk Refinery reconstruction results in the face of new challenges. New approaches to design and modernization of production facilities were also considered, in particular, an integrated approach to the analysis of chemical engineering (Protect Business Resource) and the features of technological service and expert support in modern Russian conditions (ONH-Holding). A representative from Ruichang (China) spoke about the advantages of a “modular” approach for modern refinery construction.

Particular attention was paid to the technologies and catalysts import substitution issue. Gazpromneft - Industrial Innovations presented to the conference participants the CONVERSUM technology for processing light low-margin refinery streams. Also were presented the possibilities of import substitution of filtration (VNIIOS-nauka), the technology of solid-phase alkylation in a suspension reactor (Alvega), additive technologies and reverse engineering to solve problems of import substitution of parts and spare parts (Lazer technologies, Kronstadt Engineering Company) and gas-powder volumetric extinguishing technology (Kalancha). Of particular interest was the presentation about Slavneft-YANOS’s own method for increasing the output of winter diesel fuel, developed by the company’s specialists. RN-Dragmet, KNT Group and Shanxi Tengmao Technology (China) spoke about their services as suppliers of catalysts within the framework of import substitution.

The focus was also on technologies and solutions to increase production margins. Conference participants got acquainted with Russian technologies and solutions for the production and purification of hydrogen: steam reforming, short-cycle adsorption, membrane hydrogen concentration (Grasys), service for mobile purification of amine solutions from mechanical impurities and thermostable salts, used as a way to extend the service life of the absorbent (ReoCat), technologies for processing secondary raw materials and heavy oil residues in ROSNEFT (Srednevolzhsky Research Institute for Oil Refining), technologies for the production of alkyl gasoline (A.V.Topchiev Institute of Petrochemical Synthesis, RAS), as well as Kapron additive packages to improve the performance characteristics of LPG-based gas motor fuels.