The long-term strategy of the development of the oil refining and petrochemical industry of the Russian Federation has been discussed. Such measures as the elaboration of the master plan of the development of oil refining and petroleum chemistry until 2020, providing Russian banks with state guarantees on loans to finance the construction of new and upgrading existing refineries, and the prompt enactment of the technological requirements for petroleum products have been singled out as the most important ones. The current status of oil refining in Russia has been analyzed. It has been shown that an extremely low proportion of secondary processes is the cause for the lagging behind of the domestic petroleum refining industry as compared to industrialized countries. The main challenges facing domestic oil refining have been specified. Considerable attention has been paid to the issues of improving the quality of petroleum products and bringing it up to world standards. The most important projects for the upgrading of existing and the construction of new refineries, as well as projects to build new oil refineries, have been examined.