Rosneft currently refines 15% of its oil output. After the recent acquisition of Volga and Siberian refineries with total capacity of 32 million metric tons (about 235 million barrels) at liquidation auctions of bankrupt oil company Yukos, this figure will increase to 40%, First Vice President Sergei Kudryashov said.
In 2006, Rosneft refined about 11 million metric tons (about 80 million barrels) of crude oil, Kudryashov said.
Despite the acquisition of Yukos' refining assets, Rosneft also intends to press ahead with its plans to build a refinery at the terminus of the Eastern Siberia-Pacific oil pipeline and in China, he said.
The Eastern Siberia-Pacific pipeline is slated to pump up to 1.6 million barrels per day of crude from Siberia to Russia's Far East, which will then be sent on to energy-hungry China and the Asia-Pacific region.
Rosneft's first vice president also said the company intends to sign a deal with energy giant Gazprom on supplying additional natural gas to Russia's gas transportation system.
Rosneft has evaluated its natural gas production potential and transferred these data to Gazprom, which is drafting the gas sector's development strategy until 2020, Kudryashov said.
"Earlier, we planned to actively develop our gas business after 2012, but this will probably happen sooner," Kudryashov said.
He added that Rosneft plans to sell Gazprom about 15 billion cubic meters of its gas output in 2007.
