The article describes prerequisites for the creation of Grozny Research Institute as a research center for the comprehensive study of oil (geology, drilling, production and refining). Grozny Oil Research Institute is one of the first and oldest institutes of the oil refining industry in the former USSR and in the world. It had a difficult path of development from a factory laboratory to the largest research institute of Russia, which determined the technical progress of the Soviet oil refining industry. The article analyzes the stages of development of Grozny Oil Research Institute in 1928-1965, provides a brief overview of studies conducted in this period, shows its contribution to the development of oil research, the development and improvement of oil refining and petrochemical processes, the production of zeolites and adsorbents, the creation and design of new oil refineries. The article shows that Grozny institute was a pioneer in many areas of oil research: oil emulsions, classification of oils, development of scientific foundations of thermal cracking, catalytic cracking, contact coking, development of processes for the production of residual oils.