It has been shown that corrosion damage of equipment at an oil refinery plant as a common organism is determined by the combined effect of the process media at all stages of operation. Corrosion charts of units have been composed. Methods for the protection of oil refinery plant equipment from local and downtime corrosion, issues of material selection for cladding of surfaces of vessels and pipelines, and an up-to-date scheme of inhibitor protection of oil processing units in operation have been discussed and proposed. A new approach to the choice of starting products and reactions for synthesizing versatile inhibitors of atmospheric corrosion is considered. A new versatile fungicide inhibitor, VNKh-L-408, has been synthesized using this approach. The reliability and operating capability of units and various kinds of oil processing equipment depend on strict adherence to the operating regulations and on corrosion factors, on the one hand, and on correct choice of materials during design and on the quality of construction activities, on the other hand. Currently there are three guiding engineering manuals (GEMs) developed by VNIINeftemash in 1978-84 for selection of construction materials during the design and upgrading of the main units at domestic oil refinery plants. These GEMs are mandatory for design companies and oil refinery plants. Unfortunately, they are obsolete to a considerable degree and nearly no attention is paid therein to the local corrosion of structural metals and alloys. They either lack data on the likelihood of pit and ulcerous corrosion, as well as corrosion cracking, or, conversely, contain overrated data. They also lack data on the composition and corrosivity of deposits and steam treatment condensates that play an important role in the initiation and intensification of both general and local corrosion of metals.The majority of oil refinery plants in Russian Federation have been put into operation 35-40 years ago. Therefore, the necessity of equipment upgrading and replacement became extremely urgent due to both expiration of the rated equipment life and a considerable Int. J. Corros. Scale Inhib., 2013, 2, no. 2, 92-101 93 metal corrosion, especially local corrosion. These circumstances require considerable adjustments in the design standards with consideration for the real corrosion problems found during operation of units.However, neither the GEMs nor the available international literature treat an oil refinery plant as a common organism with interconnected units that are operated sequentially: "start → production mode → shutdown (for repair or due to other reasons) → steam treatment → drying → repair → start … etc.", and corrosion damage is determined by the joint effects of the process media at all operation stages.The main reason of intense corrosion damage of equipment in process units during shutdown and repair periods lies in the presence of deposits in vessels and pipelines. The chemical composition of the deposits and the ratio of various compounds therein are dete...