The Saratov Oil Refinery is one of the oldest enterprises in the industry in Russia. The refinery is part of Rosneft and is capable of processing 7 million tons of oil per year.
"Pervy Tekhnichesky" explores what it produces and what significance the refinery has for the Russian fuel market.
How the Saratov Refinery developed
In 1940, an atmospheric-tube cracking unit and a gas fractionation unit appeared here, and the production of toluene and isooctane began. By the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, its capacity reached 3.5 million tons of fuel oil per year.
The main modernization continued in the second half of the 20th century. The enterprise built catalytic reforming units, diesel hydrotreating units, sulfur production units, bitumen production units, and primary oil refining units.
In 2013, after the reconstruction of the ELOU-AVT-6 unit, the refinery's capacity was brought to 7 million tons of oil per year, and the pentane-hexane fraction isomerization unit achieved a capacity of 300 thousand tons per year.
How much oil and gasoline the plant processes
In 2018, the Saratov Refinery processed 6.71 million tons of oil with a design capacity of 7 million tons. The processing depth reached 81.2%, and the yield of light petroleum products was 51.7%.
In the same year, the enterprise produced 1.235 million tons of motor gasoline, 2.144 million tons of diesel fuel, and 1.181 million tons of fuel oil. The total output of petroleum products and petrochemicals then amounted to 6.499 million tons.
More recent Rosneft publications do not disclose the separate annual volume of gasoline specifically for the Saratov Refinery. At the same time, the enterprise's processing capacity remains stable at 7 million tons per year.
What the Saratov Refinery produces
The main products of the plant are motor gasolines, diesel and marine fuel, road and roofing bitumens, technical sulfur, and other petroleum products. The gasoline line includes AI-92-K5, AI-95-K5, as well as improved AI-95-K5 "Euro-6".
The plant mastered the production of highly ecological Euro-6 gasoline in the spring of 2018 during another modernization program. The Saratov Refinery became one of the first enterprises in Russia to introduce the production of this fuel.
In addition to gasoline, the plant produces winter, summer, and off-season diesel fuel, M-100 fuel oil, heavy fuel oil for export, petroleum bitumens, and technical sulfur. In 2024, the introduction of a new hydrotreating-hydrodewaxing technology based on domestic catalysts allowed the enterprise to increase its winter diesel fuel production capabilities by another 20%.
The Saratov Refinery accounts for approximately 2.2–3% of the total oil refining volume in Russia.