The Kuybyshev Oil Refinery in Samara is one of the key enterprises of the Samara group of Rosneft, which also includes the Novokuybyshevsk and Syzran Refineries. The plant has been operating since September 1945: its construction began in 1943, and its first product was gasoline. Today, the enterprise is designed for approximately 7 million tons of oil per year and produces gasoline, diesel fuel, fuel oil, motor fuel components, sulfur, and other petrochemical products.

4.7 million tons of oil per year: the real scale of production

According to actual figures, the Kuybyshev Refinery is significantly larger than it might seem based on capacity alone. In 2024, the plant processed about 4.7 million tons of crude oil, producing approximately 800 thousand tons of motor gasoline, 1.4 million tons of diesel fuel, and 1.3 million tons of fuel oil.

For context, primary oil refining in the country reached 266.5 million tons in 2024. At the same time, the plant's utilization was at about 67% of its design capacity.

The gasoline component is especially important. The Kuybyshev Refinery began producing Euro-5 class gasoline back in 2013, and in 2015, Rosneft completed the conversion of its Russian refineries to produce fifth environmental class motor fuels for the domestic market.

K5 gasoline — one of the plant's main specializations

Currently, Rosneft classifies KNPZ gasoline and seasonal diesel fuel as Euro-5 products, however, there is no separate up-to-date figure in the plant's open reporting on how much of the 800 thousand tons of motor gasoline specifically accounts for specific K5 grades. Therefore, it is more accurate to speak of 800 thousand tons of motor gasoline per year and separately indicate that the enterprise specializes in Euro-5 fuels.

Technologically, KNPZ has long not been limited to simple oil distillation. The basis of production consists of two primary processing units AVT-4 and AVT-5, and after modernization, the plant acquired isomerization units, FCC catalytic cracking, MTBE production, hydrogen production, and other secondary processing capacities.

In 2024, Rosneft carried out technical re-equipment of the vacuum blocks AVT-4 and AVT-5, aiming to increase the yield of target fractions and provide raw materials for the new vacuum gas oil hydrotreating unit.

At the same time, the current 4.7 million tons of processing is not the plant's historical maximum. In 2013, KNPZ processed about 6.95 million tons of oil, produced 1.3 million tons of motor gasoline and 2.5 million tons of diesel fuel. Back in 2015, the enterprise processed its 400-millionth ton of oil since its launch in 1945 — on average, this shows the scale of production over decades of operation.

On a national scale, the Kuybyshev Refinery cannot be compared with giants like the Omsk or Kirishi Refineries in terms of absolute processing volume: its current indicator is less than 2% of Russian oil refining.