According to the South Korean Yonhap, the major builder DL E&C Co. has signed a 327.1 billion-won ($290 million) interim deal to upgrade an oil refinery in Russia.

Under the deal with Russian oil producer Gazprom Neft, DL E&C will build a plant for adding and cracking hydrogen at Gazprom Neft's refinery southeast of Moscow. Completion is scheduled for the 2nd half of 2024, and the 2-sides plan to seal a formal contract within 3 months, DL E&C announced.

The deal marks DL E&C's 1st overseas contract since the company was renamed from Daelim Industrial Co. on January 1 under its parent's business reorganization plan.

Gazprom Neft’s modernisation of its Moscow Refinery has been ongoing since 2011, the company’s total investment in upgrading capacity at the refinery reached RUB 250 billion ($3.4 billion) by 2021.

The next stage in the refinery’s development will be the construction of a deep oil refining complex, after which refining depth at the Moscow Refinery is expected to increase to 99%, and the light product yield up to 80%.

In 2014, the South Korean DL E&C made inroads into Russia in line with its strategy to tap into new overseas construction markets.

Meanwhile, DL E&C also said it has clinched a contract with Swiss fertilizer firm EuroChem to design a mammoth methanol plant to be built in Ust-Luga on the northwestern coast of Russia.