The new VKG plant called Petroter produced its first shale oil

On December 16th and 17th, startup operations took place at the new VKG oil shale processing plant, in the course of which the new plant was operating for 5 hours. Within all period of start-up and commissioning the plant processed 500 t of oil shale and produced abt 50 t of shale oil.

The startup operations are ongoing at the plant since mid-October, the right to operate the plant was issued by the Municipality of Kohtla-Järve on November 19th. 4 stages of start-up works came before these startup operations of December 16th and 17th, aiming the commissioning of the new unit and its preparation to operation. Bringing of the plant on to a stable production and continuous operation are planned for 2010.

Preparatory actions for construction of the new plant started at VKG in 2002. A large-scale project preparations started in 2005, and construction works started in the beginning of 2007. All works aiming to construct buildings and install equipment were finalized in October, 2009. 27 enterprises took part in designing and construction of the new plant, the biggest contractors among them were Remeksi Keskuse AS, Fredmaster AS and Viru RMT OÜ. The new plant created 100 new work places.

The project costs reached 1,1 bln kroons. The new VKG plant is one of the biggest investments in industry this year. The project was financed by the banks Nordea and SEB.

The Chairman of the Board of VKG Oil AS Mr. Nikolai Petrovich: „Start-up and commissioning works ongoing at the new plant have clearly demonstrated that our unit is designed and built in a quality manner. It takes at least a half year to start up a big plant, but Estonia knows examples of much longer start-up and commissioning periods. Taking into consideration the Galoter technology which is as such difficult to start it up we have reasons to believe the project is being successfully implanted.”

The plant inauguration ceremony will take place on December 21st, through the mediation of the President of the Republic of Estonia, Mr. Toomas Hendrik Ilves, and will be followed by a festive reception dedicated to the launch of the new plant and the 85th anniversary of the Oil Shale Processing Industry of Estonia (December 24th, 2009).

VKG Oil AS is the biggest and the oldest oil shale processing enterprise in Estonia being in operation since 1924. Its main activity is thermal processing of oil shale to produce shale oil, phenol water and low-heating-value gas. The enterprise employs 560 people.
In the frames of the Estonian Enterprise Competition VKG Oil AS was awarded as the „Best Estonian Enterprise 2009”.

Additional information:
Julia Aleksandrova
VKG PR manager
Теl. 334 2702
GSM 523 2700
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