Petrol Chairman Tomaz Berlocnik and Gazprom Neft Chairman Alexander Dyukov recently signed an agreement during Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putins visit to Slovenia.

Through the partnership, Gazproms Serbian subsidiary Naftna Industrija Srbije (NIS) will supply the Slovenian and other markets of southeastern and Central Europe with industrial lubricants, fuels, motor oils, domestic heating oil and aviation fuel. The deal signifies the development of business cooperation in a wider area, particularly on the Balkans and those markets where Petrol is not present yet, Petrol stated.

Together with Gazprom Neft, Petrol plans to expand its services in Romania and Bulgaria. Cooperation with Petrol allows Gazprom Neft and NIS to further expand its activities in the Balkans, said Gazprom Nefts Dyukov, adding that the deal would strengthen the Russian oil companys position as a key petrochemical producer and distributer in the region.

Petrols core business is oil product trade, with a retail network of 441 service stations in Slovenia and in other countries in the region such as Austria, Croatia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina. The company also trades in gas, electricity and other energy products.

Petrol possesses very good logistics and excellent market position in the region, the Russian oil majors press office told Lube Report. With its wide network of service stations, the company offered Gazprom Neft a variety of possibilities within this partnership. It will help our company to become a key player on the Balkans.

NIS started to stream base oil in its refinery in Novi Sad, Serbia, the company announced recently. The plant is expected to have capacity of 100,000 metric tons per year, and the company so far hasnt disclosed the base oil quality or estimated when the plant is expected to reach full capacity.

Slovenia has no operational oil refineries or base oil production. Independent blenders, such as Mapetrol in Maribor and Olma in Ljubljana, import their base oil supplies.