Gazprom Neft has finished the second upgrade of its lubricant blending production in Omsk, Western Siberia.
The Omsk upgrade adds 40,000 t/y to the existing 70,000 t/y finished lubes production capacity. After the upgrade, the facility is now able to produce 110,000 t/y of finished lubricants, while the filling line has capacity of 180,000 t/y. Gazprom Neft said in its Apr. 14 news release.
The blending plant has five mixing units and a dosage system that provides efficient and precise automatic production of a wide range of motor oils, including Gazproms flagship brand G-Energy, according to the company.
In addition to the blending and filling line, the complex includes a facility for lubes packaging production. The system has the potential to automatically fill more than 350 different types of products, and the finished products warehouse has 10,000 tons of storage capacity, the company said.
The development of Moscow-based Gazprom Nefts U.S. $94 million finished lubricant production complex in Omsk took place in two stages. In May 2012 the company unveiled a 70,000 t/y blending facility, a new packaging production and filling line and new feedstock and finished products storage. In the second stage, a fully automated 40,000 t/y blending facility was finished.
The complex is ready to stream high quality products comparable to those imported [in Russia]. In Omsk we simply borrowed the know-how of our foreign [lubricant production] assets. The next large project here is development of high quality base oil production, which is expected to be ready by 2018, said Anatoly Cherner, Gazprom Nefts deputy general director for logistics, production and sales.
According to Gazprom Neft, it held a 14 percent share of the Russian lubricants market in 2013 and produced 492,000 tons of base oils and lubricants. The Omsk complex includes a 240,000 t/y Group I base oil plant and is Gazproms main lubricant production hub. The company also operates a 250,000 t/y Group I base oil plant in Yaroslavl under the Slavneft joint venture with Russian oil giant Rosneft.
Last week the company also reconfirmed its readiness to start construction very soon on a 90,000 t/y Group II/II+ base oil plant in Serbia.
The company operates four additional lubricant blending plants in Moscow, Yaroslavl, Novi Sad, Serbia, and Bari, Italy. It sells finished lubricants in 42 countries, with distribution channels in some European Union markets, as well as in Belarus, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Last year it started sales in Hungary, Lebanon, Nigeria, Afghanistan and the Dominican Republic.