During the period since January till end of June 2010, Russia’s vertically integrated Bashneft (in Republic Bashkortostan autonomy) three refineries have refined 419,000 b/d (10.381mn t of crude ) or by 6.8% higher as compared to the same period last year. During that time, 235,000 b/d Ufa refinery came as the front runner with the best refinery runs growth dynamics while increasing its production capacity by 9.7%.
Within the span of 6 months, the refineries operated by Bashneft have refined 5.097mn t of Western Siberian crude (i.e. by 10.3% higher as compared to the same period last year), 4.849 of oil produced in Bashkortostan republic (+8.1%) and 435,000t of gas condensate.
Since January till June 2010, the production of motor gasoline at refineries of Bashneft increased by 4.5% totaling 2.589mn t. The three refineries in Ufa have also produced 3,834mn t of diesel fuel that is by 20,4% higher than during the first half of 2009. However, production of heating oil decreased by 13.8%. As a result, the share of light petroleum products in the total production capacity of Bashneft increased from 59.5% (during the first half of 2009) to 63.2%.
Such a change in the product mix was primarily driven by commissioning of a Delayed Coking Unit (DCU) at Ufaneftkhim in the second half of 2009. This allowed to reduce production of fuel oil by 72.2%, to increase production of diesel fuel by 23.4%, and to start production of pet coke. Since January till June 2009, after commissioning of the DCU, overall refining depth at Bashneft's refineries have reached the 86.2% level (as compared to 82,7% during the same period last year), and production of light petroleum products increased.
"Currently, Ufa refineries are the most advanced refineries in the country, and they take the lead by such indexes as refining depth and Nelson complexity index (that characterizes the refining depth," Victor Gantsev, Chief Vice President, Refining and Petroleum Chemistry, Bashneft, told when commenting the work balance of the refining facilities. "The significant increase in production of light petroleum products points to the fact that scheduled and complex modernization performed at the plant allows to obtain significantly better results," he said.
OILMARKET Info:
Bashneft is the main enterprise of the fuel and energy complex of Bashkiria ranked at Top 10 of oil producers and at Top 5 of oil refiners of the Russian Federation. The production division of the group forms Bashneft Dobycha, a crude oil production operation company, while the refining division is represented by three refineries (Ufa refinery, Ufaneftekhim and Novoil) and one petrochemical plant, Ufaorgsintez. The group also includes a sales company, Bashkirnefteprodukt, specializing in sales of motor fuels via the network of service stations and bulk plants. The products of the fuel and energy complex of Bashkortostan Republic are sold in the Russian Federation; they are also exported to the EU: Czech Republic, Hungary as well as to Kazakhstan, and Ukraine. Bashneft is a player of the Interregional Oil and Gas Complex Exchange and Saint Petersburg International Commodity Exchange. Total staff of the enterprises included into the group is about 22,000 persons. AFK Sistema is the major shareholder of the company.
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