Tatnefts 190,000 ton per year API Group II/III base oil plant at its new Nizhnekamsk refinery will commission in test mode by September and could start normal operation by Jan. 2015, the company told Lube Report on Monday.
When the equipment installation is ready we will start a three-month long test streaming in several batches. It will be a substandard product not intended for sale. A certified product will not be ready until we get the environment protection licenses, a Tatneft spokesperson told Lube Report.
Tanecos new hydrocracking unit and the 90,000 t/y Group II and 100,000 t/y Group III base oil plant were announced in 2010. The opening of the complex was scheduled for the third quarter of 2013, but it was pushed back to earlier this year due to equipment procurement problems.
Taneco is Tatnefts subsidiary that runs the oil major’s refineries and chemical complexes in Nizhnekamsk, Republic of Tatarstan. Nizhnekamsk is the republics second biggest city and one of Russias largest petrochemical centers.
According to reports in some Russian media, Tatneft spent around 250 billion rubles (U.S. $7 billion) for construction and development of the new refinery in Nizhnekamsk. The combined hydrocracking unit alone costs $1.1 billion. It has capacity to process 2.9 million t/y of vacuum gasoil. Part of the hydrodewaxed gasoil feed will be directed to the new base oil plant.
The combined hydrockracking unit in Taneco could allow us to produce high-viscosity Group III base oils for production of finished oils used in automotive and industrial equipment. [The Russian lubricant] market depends on imports of such products, and we can substantially relieve this dependency, Tatneft said.
Tatneft owns another base oil plant in Nizhnekamsk operated by the Tatneft-Nizhnekemskneftekhim-Oil joint venture. Tatneft holds 74 percent and chemicals company Nizhnekemskneftekhim-Oil holds 26 percent of the enterprise shares.
The 10,000 t/y PAO plant is on hold at the moment due to disruption of feedstock supply and financial debts.