Russia's Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin has proposed building a new oil refinery in Russia for small independent oil producers, saying such a move would stabilize fuel prices and create better access for minor producers to refining, the Kommersant daily said Thursday.
Currently, refinery capacity is largely controlled by the country's top oil producers.
At a meeting Wednesday of small oil companies, Sechin, who is also chief executive of the country's biggest oil producer OAO Rosneft (ROSN.RS), proposed building a refinery with a capacity of at least 12 million tons with a cost of around $8 billion.
If the project is implemented, it would be Russia's first large oil refinery since the Soviet era.