KHERSON PETROLEUM REFINERY KHERSON, USSR

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: NGA Records (Formerly NIMA)
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP79T00909A000500010029-0
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 12
• Document Creation Date: December 28, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 18, 2008
• Sequence Number: 29
• Publication Date: October 1, 1971
• Content Type: REPORT

Approved For Release 2008/06/18: CIA-RDP79T00909A000500010029-0
Top Secret
DIRECTORATE OF
INTELLIGENCE
Industrial Facilities
(Non-Military)
Basic Imagery Interpretation Report
Kherson Petroleum Refinery
Kherson, USSR
lop secret
RCS 13/0005/72
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DATE OCTOBER 1971
COPY 10 117
PAGES
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 CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
Directorate of Intelligence
Imagery Analysis Service
Kherson Petroleum Refinery
UTM COORDINATES
36TVS705670
GEOGRAPHIC COORDINATES
46-39-40N 032-34-41E
MAP REFERENCE
2nd RTS. US Air Target Chart, Series 200, Sheet M0250-9HL, 4th ed, Apr 69,
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RCS - 13/0005/72.
Kherson Petroleum Refinery is a small refinery with respect to charge
capacity. The major production facilities include a crude oil distillation
unit, a crude oil distillation and thermal cracking unit, a coking and
distillation unit, a desalting unit, blending and treating units, and one
unidentified secondary processing unit. Several additional processing units
are under construction.
The products of the refinery include straight-run and cracked gasolines,
kerosene, diesel and fuel oils, coke, and asphaltic materials.
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In December 1963, when the area was first covered on good-quality photography,
about 40 percent of the refinery facilities were present. By September 1966, site
preparation was observed for a crude oil distillation unit, several additional
processing units, and storage and shipping facilities. On the latest coverage
in April 1971, the crude oil distillation unit appeared to be complete but not
in operation. Construction was continuing on other processing units and the
storage facilities.
The refinery was in operation on all coverage from December 1963 through
April 1971.
This report includes a detailed line drawing, a photograph of the refinery,
a detailed listing of equipment and facilities with measurements of storage
tanks, and a discussion of the status of facilities.
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Kherson Petroleum Refinery is located on the northern outskirts of Kherson,
1.5 nautical miles (nm) northwest of the Dnieper River (see Figure 1).
During 1937-1938 a small cracking plant designed for refining reduced
crude oil from a Baku refinery was reportedly put into operation at Kherson.
At the beginning of World War II the plant was disassembled and moved to the
eastern part of the country. Between 1947 and 1950 the refinery was rebuilt
and put back into operation at Kherson. 1/
Crude oil to charge the refinery comes by tanker and rail from
the Northern Caucasus and East Ukraine oilfields. 2/ Reportedly a 225-mile
crude oil pipeline to the refinery from oilfields near Poltava and Chaskov
is scheduled for completion in 1971. 3/
The refinery receives electric power through a transformer substation
located immediately north. Steam for the refining processes is produced at
the collocated Kherson Thermal Power Plant Petroleum Refinery
This plant is listed as a thermal power plant in the Basic Encyclopedia.
No transformer section has been observed on photography, however, so the plant
appears to produce only steam and not electricity.
Physical Features
The refinery occupies about 550 acres in an area measuring 6,100 by 4,000
feet (see Figures 2 and 3). It is secured by a wall.
The refinery is served by rail spurs from the mail line between Nikolayev
and Kherson, and several rail car transloading racks are located in the refinery.
A pipeline connects the refinery with a storage and transshipment facility
located on the Dnieper River 4.5 nm to the southwest. This facility allows
crude oil to be shipped to the refinery by barge.
Operational Functions
This is a small refinery with respect to charge capacity. The major refining
units presently in operation include a crude oil distillation unit, a crude oil
distillation and thermal cracking unit, a coking and distillation unit, a
desalting unit, one and probably two blending and treating units, and one
unidentified secondary processing unit.
Based on the identification of processing units, the products of the refinery
include straight-run and cracked gasolines, kerosene, diesel and fuel oils, coke,
and asphaltic materials.
Construction and Operational Status
The refinery was operating when it was first seen on good-quality photography
in December 1963. At that time the desalting unit, part of the crude oil
distillation and thermal cracking unit, one and probably two blending and
treating units, the unidentified secondary processing unit, the steam plant,
and about 40 percent of the present storage tanks were in place.
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By March 1965 only a few storage tanks and water treatment/storage basins
had been added to the refinery. In September 1966, when only the northern
half of the refinery was seen on cloud-free photography, site preparation
was observed for the crude oil distillation unit (Area E), processing units
in Areas B and D, and the storage and shipping facilities in Area A.
By March 1968, the crude oil distillation and thermal cracking unit.
and the coking and distillation unit were complete. The crude oil
distillation unit was in the early-to-midstages of construction. The
processing units in Areas B and D were in the early stages of construction.
Seven large storage tanks were installed in the storage and shipping area
(Area A). The water treatment and cooling facilities in Area C were in the
midstages of construction. The storage facilities in Area G were being
expanded. Site preparation was observed for the transformer substation
located just north of the refinery.
In June 1969 the crude oil distillation unit and the processing units in
Areas B and D were in the midstages of construction. Construction was continuing
on the storage facilities (Areas A and G) and on the water treatment and cooling
facilities. The transformer substation was in the midstages of construction.
By August 1970 the crude oil distillation unit and the transformer substation
were nearing completion. Little progress was noted on the processing units in
Areas B and D.
In April 1971, the crude oil distillation unit appeared complete but not
in operation, since no steam was observed at the unit or the associated cooling
towers. The transformer substation was complete. The processing units in
Area B were nearly complete, but little progress was noted on the processing
unit in Area D. Work on the storage areas and the water treatment and cooling
facilities was nearly complete.
The refinery was observed in operation on all coverage from December 1963
through April 1971.
Facilities and Equipment
Table 1 lists the functional areas and equipment within the refinery. In
areas which are still under construction and whose functions are undetermined,
the buildings and processing equipment are not listed in the table or shown
on Figure 3. All measurements are rounded to the nearest half-meter.
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 Area Functional Description Equipment and Facilities
Table 1. Equipment and Facilities at Kherson Petroleum Refinery
(Keyed to Figure 3)
Storage and Shipping
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2 Rail car loading racks
2 Support buildings
19 Cylindrical storage tanks,
33 meters in diameter
1 Tank base
7 Horizontal storage tanks,
27 meters long.
Processing Units Facilities not listed
Under Construction
Water Treatment and Cooling 10 Buildings
7 Cooling towers
(one under construction)
7 Covered water reservoirs
3 Cylindrical storace tank-5
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1 12-meter-diameter
2 Semiburied tanks
(not measured)
16 Water storage/treatment basins
D Processing Unit
Under Construction
E Crude Oil Distillation 1 Unit with
1 atmospheric column
1 vacuum column
8 other columns
6 banks of heat exchangers/
accumulators/cooling coils
(one on the roof of a
building)
3 pipe furnaces
4 processing buildings (one
with 6 horizontal tanks and
one with 6 cylindrical storage
tanks, 3 meters in diameter)
1 pump building
7 horizontal treating/
storage tanks
1 support building
2 Support buildings
Blending, Treating, and 1 Blending and treating
Shipping unit with
1 building with 7 batch
agitators/mixers
1 pipe furnace
1 processing building
1 large shipping building
under construction
1 support building
1 Probable blending/treating
unit with
14 probable blending/
treating tanks
1 small pipe furnace
3 processing buildings
2 support buildings
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Area Functional Description Equipment and Facilities
G Storage 7 Buildings
86 Cylindrical storage tanks
5 33-meter-diameter
3 30-meter-diameter
5
9
12
5 Horizontal storage tanks,
21 meters long
1 Semiburied storage tank
(not measured)
8 Tank bases
2 -me er- iameter
4
2
Probable Blending/Treating and 1 Unit with
Shipping 2 processing columns
8 probable treating towers
8 probable blending/storage
tanks
5 processing buildings
1 loading rack
3 support buildings
2 Loading racks
12 Support buildings
6 Cylindrical storage tanks,
Storage and Support
Desalting
emi urie , storage anks
(not measured)
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27 Buildings (9 are in two
separately secured areas)
1 Cylindrical storage tank,
7 meters in diameter
2 Horizontal storage tanks
(in one of the separately
secured areas) 12 meters long
2 Semiburied storage tanks
(not measured)
1 Tank under construction
1 Unit with
1 cluster of processing
equipment
2 banks of heat exchangers/
accumulators/cooling coils
3 processing buildings
12 cylindrical storage/
treating tanks
2 12-meter-diameter
10 25X1
9 horizontal desalting
treatment drums
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Area Functional Description Equipment and Facilities
accumulators/cooling coils
pipe furnaces
air coolers
processing building
pump/compressor building
cylindrical storage tanks,
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Crude Oil Distillation and 1 Combination unit with
Thermal Cracking 14 columns
4 banks of heat exchangers/
Unidentified Secondary
Processing
horizontal storage
15 meters long
tanks,
4 Support buildings
1 Unit with
17 columns
2 banks of heat exchangers/
accumulators/cooling coils
2 pipe furnaces
3 air coolers
7 processing buildings
4 cylindrical storage tanks,
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7 horizontal storage/
processing tanks
2 15-meter-long
4 9-meter-long
Support
1 Steam generation building
7 Storage/support buildings
3.Cylindrical storage tanks
1 9-meter-diameter
2 Horizon a s orage a ,
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N Coking and Distillation 1 Coking unit with a 10-bank
shell still and 1 fractionation
column
1 Distillation unit with
5 columns
1 cluster of processing
equipment
2, banks of heat exchangers/
accumulators/cooling coils
2 small pipe furnaces
2 processing buildings
1 pump building
10 Buildings (one under
construction)
4 Cylindrical storage tanks,
6 meters in diameter
Water Treatment and Cooling 12 Buildings
3 Natural-draft cooling towers
9 Water storage/treatment basins
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Imagery
Map
2nd RTS. US Air Target Chart, Series 200, Sheet M0250-9HL 4th edition, 69.
Scale 1:200,000 (SECRET 25X1
1. US Department of Commerce. JPRS, 44605 Studies in Oil Refining and Petro-
chemistry, "Development of Oil Refining and the Petrochemical Industry in
the Ukraine," pages 17-21, March 1968 (UNCLASSIFIED)
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2. The Petroleum Publishing Co., International Petroleum Encyclopedia, page 95,
1969 edition (UNCLASSIFIED)
3. The Petroleum Publishing Co., Oil and Gas International, Volume 11,
Number 4, page 92, April 1971 (UNCLASSIFIED)
Requirement
COMIREX N02
Support Number 422964
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