Transneft –Vostok Re-equips a Key Trunk Pipeline Facility
Transneft–Vostok has completed a major upgrade of the automated process control system at Pumping Station No. 4 Rechushka, replacing a legacy 2008 platform with a modern Russian-made microprocessor-based system.
Digitalization Pushed to the Limit
As Transneft–Vostok reported, the new system offers expanded capabilities for monitoring and controlling process parameters. The upgrade involved installing more than 1,500 instruments, laying over 140 kilometers of cable routes, setting up eight operator workstations, and deploying numerous equipment cabinets. The project has significantly improved the reliability and safety of process control at a critical element of Russia’s oil transportation infrastructure.
The modernization has raised the level of digitalization at the facility and strengthened real-time oversight of equipment parameters under high oil throughput. Replacing outdated hardware with modern systems is a clear step toward import substitution and reduced dependence on foreign automation. The upgrade enhances infrastructure resilience, lowers the risk of accidents and downtime, and creates a multiplier effect by supporting domestic automation manufacturers. The project stands as a model case for upgrading industrial automation across the oil and gas sector amid large-scale fleet renewal.
Quantitative and Qualitative Gains
The Russian-made microprocessor-based system fully meets Transneft’s technical requirements. It features improved ergonomics, higher data-processing speeds, and advanced control over key and auxiliary mechanical, process, and power equipment at the pumping station, as well as over shut-off valves.
In total, the project included the installation of 1,508 instruments and primary sensors, 22 cabinets for field communication devices, 41 instrument cabinets and racks, and eight automated operator workstations. Crews installed 19.4 kilometers of cable trays and laid around 145 kilometers of control, power, and fiber-optic cables.
As a result, the number of monitored parameters for both primary and auxiliary equipment increased substantially, improving the overall quality of process control. The work has had a measurable impact on equipment reliability and on industrial and environmental safety across Transneft–Vostok facilities.
A Broader Industry Shift
This project is part of a wider digital transformation underway across Russia’s fuel and energy sector. It reflects a transition from aging systems to flexible, modern control platforms that boost efficiency, safety, and technological independence. Deploying domestically produced automation directly supports national import-substitution goals for critical infrastructure.
Similar projects have been rolled out across the Transneft system. In 2022, Transneft–Prikamye upgraded the automated control system at the Kaleikino main pumping station in the Republic of Tatarstan, replacing a system that had been in operation since 2004. The work included installing new pressure transmitters, radar level gauges for leak and drainage tanks, optical flame detectors at pumping stations and measurement facilities, a climate-control system in a new instrumentation block, an 80-meter cable trestle, and reconstruction of 570 meters of existing infrastructure.
That same year, Transneft–Siberia reported the deployment of a modern Russian-made microprocessor control system at the Tobolsk pipeline directorate, replacing a platform installed in 2003. A similar modernization was carried out last year at Transneft–Baltika facilities in the Yaroslavl region.
According to Transneft President Nikolai Tokarev, the company plans to invest 2 trillion rubles (about $24 billion) in infrastructure modernization as part of its long-term strategy.
