Novatek launches hydrocracking unit at Ust-Luga complex

PAO Novatek has launched its hydrocracking unit at the Ust-Luga complex at the port of Ust-Luga on the Baltic Sea.

The unit was built under an agreement between the company and the Ministry of Energy of the Russian Federation to develop new processing infrastructure.

With the hydrocracker in operation, Novatek will be able to process heavy fractionation residuals (fuel oil) at its gas condensate fractionation infrastructure in Ust-Luga to reach a 99% yield of marketable light petroleum products, the company said in a release last week.

The Ust-Luga complex processes stable gas condensate into light and heavy naphtha, jet fuel, ship fuel component (fuel oil) and gasoil to ship to international markets. The Ust-Luga complex also allows for transshipment of stable gas condensate to the export markets.

In 2022, the complex processed 6,943 metric tonnes of stable gas condensate into 6,825 metric tonnes of end products, including 4,208 metric tonnes of light and heavy naphtha, 1,052 metric tonnes of jet fuel, and 1,487 metric tonnes of ship fuel component (fuel oil) and gasoil, 78,000 tons of LPG.