The paper considers the ways to improve the quality of oil refinery process models in information systems at various management levels (ERP, APS, MES). The authors demonstrate the necessity to introduce a universal (basic) for all management systems in order to ensure their effective interaction and integration. It has also been shown that a universal basic model is a subset of models of interacting systems based on balance principles. The results of the practical implementation of the present approach at oil refineries are presented in the article along with the proposed ways to optimize the basic model. It should be noted that the development of a universal model can improve knowledge transfer and increase labour efficiency of personnel.