Information for a meeting on petrochemical industry development
Today, there are 212 registered oil refineries in Russia. Twenty-eight are large, processing more than 1 million tonnes of crude per year with a total primary refining capacity of 254 million tonnes. A total of 184 are mini-refineries with a total processing capacity of up to 500,000 tonnes per year, among them 158 mini-refineries, or 86% of the overall figure, with a processing capacity of up to 50,000 tonnes a year.
Russian enterprises account for about 1% of the world chemical output. Russia is the largest oil producer in the world (12.9% of the total), having overtaken Saudi Arabia. It is also in the top twenty largest plastic producers (2% of the world output). In terms of natural gas extraction, Russia ranks second after the United States (17.6%), whereas the share of carbamide produced in Russia was 4% of the world total.
Based on the 2009 results, the output of marketable petroleum products by Russian oil refineries reached 218 million tonnes. The breakdown is as follows – diesel fuel at 64 million tonnes, fuel oil at 59 million tonnes, automobile petrol at 33 million tonnes, aviation kerosene at 9 million tonnes, other petroleum products, including straight-run petrol, vacuum gas oil, and petroleum bitumen, at 54 million tonnes.
Due to the leap in world prices, the currency earnings from chemical and petrochemical product exports in 2008 reached an all-time high of $26.9 billion. However, exports plummeted in 2009 as a result of the global economic crisis and the falling prices, as well as the total drop in the physical volume of supplies due to the shrinking demand.
The volume of innovative products is gradually increasing (140.6 billion roubles in 2008, or 10.3% of the total shipment volume). The share of products shipped by technologically innovative organisations in the chemical industry accounts for about 60%, compared to 80-95% in advanced economies.
The following measures have been taken to support the sector. The list of systemically important enterprises includes 17 chemical and petrochemical companies, including the Sibur Holding open joint stock company, the TAIF group, the Ufaneftechim open joint stock company, the Sayanskchimplast open joint stock company, the Togliattiazot open joint stock company, and the Kuibyshevazot open joint stock company, among others. Some companies have gained assistance obtaining credit and the government is considering issuing guarantees on these loans.
The below aid measures were taken in 2009 as anti-crisis initiatives and under the Chemical and Petrochemical Industry Development Strategy:
- subsidies were granted to Russian organisations to pay interest on loans for gas and petrochemical product exports;
- import customs duties were increased for a number of chemicals, including certain synthetic tars and plastics and polymer goods;
- export customs duties were set at zero for nitric and complex fertilisers containing two or three nutritive elements (nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium).
Government support for major product consumers in the automotive industry, and the construction, housing and utilities sectors has played a crucial role in gas and petrochemical development. It is also necessary to stimulate and include in legislation rules for using innovative materials in these sectors.
