MOSCOW, May 2. /TASS/. Lukoil increased oil refining at in-house refineries by 11.3% year on year to 70.1 mln metric tons, the Russian oil major reported.

"The increase in refining volumes is largely associated with the maximal capacity utilization at overseas refineries of the Group in view of the record high refining margin," Lukoil said. The company refined 82% of produced oil last year, with Russian refineries standing at 63% of refining volumes.

Refining at European plants surged by 27.9% to 26 mln metric tons, the company reported. "The figure increase is related to the optimization of refining assets loading in view of a significant improvement of refining economics in Europe," Lukoil said. The conversion depth at European refineries declined at the same time from 98% to 90.8% in view of the crude slate change.

Retail sales of petroleum products in Russia moved up by 9.9% to 10.8 mln metric tons and by 1.6% overseas to 4.1 mln metric tons.