Gazpromneft Singapore Unit Calls it Quits

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The hyper-modern city of Singapore is a key hub for the refining and transportation of oil and petroleum products.

Gazpromneft’s Singapore subsidiary, Gazpromneft Marine Lubricants, will close down after a final general meeting of board members and creditors on Nov. 18, according to a notice posted by the company’s liquidator in the Government Gazette.

Gazpromneft Marine Lubricants began producing marine oils in Singapore in 2019, using a plant operated by local company AP Oil. This allowed the company to deliver products faster by several days than if they were imported.

The company decided to voluntarily liquidate at an extraordinary general meeting on June 21 this year. On Nov. 18, almost exactly five years after the formation of the company, the liquidator will presents its final report, which will contain the explanation for the closure. In the meantime, industry experts are left to speculate.

“I suspect the sanctions must have something to do with it. After all, the Singapore bunkering market is very competitive. Gazpromneft was blending locally with AP Oil. So, suspect they weren’t competitive enough to encourage buyers to take the risk. But this is just speculation on my part,” Eugene Tan, former head of the Asian Lubricants Industry Association, told Lube Report.

Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the European Union and the G7 imposed sanctions on Russian companies, including on those that produce petroleum products. This has had a detrimental financial impact on Russian oil companies around the world. Singapore laid out its own sanctions, too.

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