Russian lubes producer Gazprom Neft-SM plans to break ground on a 15,000 metric ton per year lubricant blending plant in Finland in early 2013.
The company recently initiated the bidding process for a developer to build the facility in the port of Hamina. The tender closes on Apr. 9.
Construction is scheduled to be completed in 2014, according to the tender documentation obtained by Lube Report. Gazprom Neft-SM did not disclose the projects cost.
The project includes construction of a complex for blending, filling, storage and shipping of finished lubricants. The blending plant will have a partially-automated filling line, pipe bridges for unloading base oils and additives by truck and rail, as well as pipe bridges for loading finished products.
The project also includes storage facilities for finished products and storage tanks for base oils and additives. Of the total feedstock to be used at the plant, 80 to 90 percent will be mineral base oil, 5 to 15 percent will be API Group II and Group III base oils, and 5 to 10 percent will be polyalphaolefin synthetic base oil, according to the tender documentation.
The plant will be in the port of Hamina on the Finland Gulf, in the industrial part of the city. Its location will be close to a base oil rerefinery operated by the EcoStream and L&T Recoil joint venture.
After Lukoil, Moscow-based Gazprom Neft-SM is the second Russian lube marketer to open a blending plant in Finland. It also operates a 50,000 t/y lubricants blending facility in Omsk, Western Siberia; a 30,000 t/y blending plant based in Fryazino, near Moscow, acquired last year from the Russian independent lubricant blender Select Oil; and a 30,000 t/y blending plant based in Bari, Italy, purchased from Chevron in 2009.
Since 2007 when it was formed, Gazprom Neft-SM has focused on marketing its finished lubes in Russia, Ukraine and some countries in Central Asia. But in recent years it stepped up its focus on European markets, promoting its top-tier automotive lubes from the G-Energy brand line.
The company also operates Group I base oil plants in Russia – one in Omsk, and the other in Yaroslavl under the Slavneft joint venture with Russian oil company TNK-BP.
For more information on Gazprom Neft-SMs growth in the finished lubricants market, read the March 11 article, Gazproms Lube Sales Rise.