Today, Vagit Alekperov, President of OAO LUKOIL, and Valentina Matvienko, Governor of Saint-Petersburg, took part in the official ceremony to commission Russia’s first “water-shore” double-purpose fuelling station.

The fuelling station is located on Vyborg Embankment and can fuel both motor vehicles and small vessels during the navigation season on the Neva River.

The design capacity of the fuelling station is about 500 fill-ups per day, including 60 fill-ups of small vessels.

The onshore part of the station has four automated fuel dispensers offering three gasoline grades and diesel fuel available 24 hours a day.

On the berth, a sailor operator fuels the vessels with AI-95 gasoline or a diesel fuel from a single fuel dispenser. According to the safety requirements, only one vessel can be fuelled at a time and only at daylight.

The fuelling station complies with all the environmental requirements established for regular gas stations, as well as with the standards for construction of marine terminals used for transhipment of petroleum products.

Four tanks for AI-92 (25 cu. m.), AI-95 (25 cu. m.), AI-98 (10 cu. m.) and diesel fuel (40 cu. m.) have double walls with a leak control system of the insulation space. They also have in-built overflow protection and gas recovery systems. The outer metal wall has a special coating, as required by fire-fighting regulations applicable to underground storage of tanks in the coastal area.

In case of a petroleum product spill, a guard boat can immediately put up slick bars or apply sorbents to absorb gasoline spills on the water surface.

The fuelling station uses fuel dispensers made by Swedish Wayne Dresser with a gas recovery system which catches 95% of noxious vapours. Plastic fuel lines have a 30-year strength margin. The onshore part of the station has a local effluent treatment system.

This year the Company is planning to construct Saint-Petersburg’s second “water-shore” fuelling station on Sverdlovskaya Embankment of the Neva River.