Achinsk refinery is preparing for relaunch – it can resume in the autumn

Rosneft tries to soften the impact of the accident at its Achinsk refinery on the oil products market, planning to partially relaunch it by November. As a result, in autumn the increase in fuel prices, caused by the accident, may be smoothed out. However, Rosneft won’t cover all the lost volumes, and will not fully restore the production at the refinery earlier than in 2016.

Rosneft has found a way to at least partially launch the Achinsk refinery, which was completely stopped this year. The fire at the oil refinery in the Krasnoyarsk region occurred on June 15th, eight people died, seven more were injured. According to preliminary data, the cause was a gas explosion at the gas fractioning plant. The scale of the accident wasn’t specified. The President of Rosneft, Igor Sechin blamed contractors that were engaged in the plant's modernization and sacked the general director, Alexander Kinzulya. Sources of Kommersant, close to Rosneft and the Government, evaluated the consequences of the accident very seriously – a number of secondary processes, which allow the refinery to produce the maximum possible volumes of motor fuel, was virtually destroyed. According to Kommersant’s interlocutors, it will only be possible to lauch the complex with new gas fractioning plant in 1-2 years.