The Nizhny Novgorod refinery (OOO LUKOIL-Nizhegorodnefteorgsintez), a member of the LUKOIL Group, has begun manufacturing Euro-4 compliant automobile gasoline. 

This achievement was made possible by the catalytic cracking complex, commissioned in December of 2010. The investments in the project came to a total of RUR 30.3 billion.

The new complex will allow the Nizhny Novgorod refinery to increase its general production rate of gasolines from 1.8 million tons to 3.2 million tons per year. The production rate of diesel fuels will increase from 4.2 million tons to 4.6 million tons annually. The complex can also produce 150 thousand tons of propylene per annum.

In addition, an alkylation unit is to be commissioned in the first quarter of 2011 at the Nizhny Novgorod refinery, which will allow the enterprise to start manufacturing Euro-5 compliant automobile gasoline.

The content of aromatic hydrocarbons in the new gasoline does not exceed 35%, the content of sulfur in Class 4 is no more than 50 mg/kg, and no more than 10 mg/kg in Class 5. The gasoline of this type ensures the so-called “pure exhaust”, which brings down the content of sulfur oxides and products of incomplete combustion of aromatic hydrocarbons to minimum levels, including benzpyrene, the most carcinogenic and mutagenic substance, in the exhaust gases.  

The RF technical regulations “On Requirements for Automobile and Aviation Gasoline, Diesel and Marine Fuels, Jet Fuel and Fuel Oil” provide for conversion to the manufacturing of Class 4 (Euro-4 compliant) gasoline from 2012 and Class 5 (Euro-5 compliant) gasoline from 2015 in Russia.