Tatneft recently started the process of streaming 6 centiStoke API Group III base oil at its Taneco refinery after it finished the next phase of equipment installation as part of an overhaul of the refinery, the company said.
The refinery is located in Nizhnekamsk, Russia, and has the capacity to make 90,000 tons per year of Group II and 100,000 t/y of Group III base oils.
“As a result of the modernization of our unit for production of base oils, during which a furnace and a vacuum column have been installed … there is capability now for production of oils with viscosity of 6 cSt,” the company said.
The plant is also producing 2 cSt and 4cSt grade base oils.
Tatneft’s 6 cSt product is branded “Taneco Base 6” and has a viscosity index of more than 135, the company said, giving excellent low-temperature properties, low evaporating loss and high oxidative stability.
“This is one more achievement of Tatneft in the import substitution of the refined products needed for development of the domestic industry,” the company said in a May 13 news release.
The new product will also be considered for export, Tatneft said, adding that in addition to the formulation of motor oils, the high viscosity 6 cSt base oils can be used in applications such as pharmaceuticals, medicines, cosmetics and in foods.
“There is a great demand for this grade both in the domestic and the export markets,” said Denis Varaksin, base oil trader at Berlin-based DYM Resources.
The supply of any base oil product from Russia is problematic, he said, and for a long time, before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the only available grade was 4 cSt.