Yokogawa Electric CIS is one of the largest developers and manufacturers of equipment and application-dependent software in industrial automation and instrumentation. The company is represented throughout Russia and the CIS through a network of subsidiaries, branch offices and technical centres. Yokogawa’s solutions and equipment are in operation throughout industries including hydrocarbon production and transportation, oil and gas refining and processing, petrochemical, chemical, pulp and paper, food and pharmaceutical industries, as well as ferrous and nonferrous metallurgy, energy, heat and power, and water supply and sanitation.
Gazprom Neft and Yokogawa sign agreement on establishing international innovation centre in St Petersburg
Gazprom Neft CEO Alexander Dyukov and President of Yokogawa Electric Corporation Takashi Nishijima have signed an agreement on the establishment of an international innovation centre for automation in oil refining in St Petersburg. The agreement envisages the expansion of technological cooperation between the two companies, a new stage of which will involve the development of an innovative performance management system in oil refining.
Gazprom Neft specialists will be working with Yokogawa on developing and implementing new-generation IT systems directed at optimising the planning process, process simulation and the ongoing monitoring of quality and quantity throughout the value chain, as well as the broader management of refining assets. New solutions will be developed on the basis of innovative technologies, such as predictive management, mathematical modelling in the production process, artificial intelligence (AI), big data, and the “Internet of Things”.
The first stage of this joint project will see a new centre, directed at developing technical solutions in oil refining, established in St Petersburg in 2017, together with a group working on validated modelling based on “digital twin” technology, a training centre, and a laboratory.
Alexander Dyukov, CEO, Gazprom Neft, commented: “Yokogawa is a longstanding and trusted technological partner to Gazprom Neft. The decision to develop new and progressive performance management systems in oil refining takes this partnership to a completely new level, meaning both companies can expect a breakthrough in information technologies and automation.”
Gazprom Neft has had a strategic cooperation agreement in place with the Yokogawa Electric Corporation since 2008, with Yokogawa directly involved in developing long-term strategic programmes directed at upgrading automation systems at Gazprom Neft’s Moscow and Omsk refineries. Both refineries now have technical centres in place established in partnership with Yokogawa and directed at process and production management using equipment and systems provided by the Japanese company, as well as training for professionals at both enterprises.
