Oil refinery capacity in Russia 2011-2021

In 2021, Russian oil refineries produced approximately 6.9 million barrels per day, marking an increase compared to the previous year. Between 2011 and 2021, the daily refinery capacity across the country grew by nearly 1.2 million barrels. The largest producer by oil refinery throughput was Rosneft, which was chaired by former German chancellor Gerhard Schroeder until May 2022.

Refinery sector in Russia

Russia has the third largest refinery capacity worldwide, after the United States and China. Its crude distillation volumes saw an increase after 2011, when the Quadripartite Agreements between oil companies, the Federal Antimonopoly Service, Rostekhnadzor, and Rosstandart were signed. In compliance with those agreements, producers increased investment in modernization of refineries, which led to the rise of light products’ share in the total refining output and the refining depth growth.

Challenges to refineries’ growth

Concerns about the future of the global refinery industry stem from the decreasing oil demand forecast in OECD countries. While a decline in consumption was not expected in Russia, the country’s oil companies faced the effects of a tax maneuver, which aimed at reducing the export duty on oil to zero by 2024 while increasing the mineral extraction tax.