Russian lubricant maker Lukoil boosted production at its stand alone lubricant blending plants by 5 percent to 138,000 metric tons in 2019, thanks to the launch of a sixth facility in Kazakhstan, according to the company’s annual performance results report.
That statistic does not include blending operations at base oil refineries in Volgograd and Perm, Russia, where the company counts “full-cycle lubricant production.” Those locations produced a combined 963,000 tons of base oils and finished lubricants produced in 2019, up from 961,000 tons produced in 2018.
The Kazahkstan plant is Lukoil’s largest stand alone blending plant, with capacity of 100,000 tons per year. The other five are located in Russia’s Tyumen oblast; in Hamina, Finland (which has capacity of 32,000 t/y); in Vienna, Austria (80,000 t/y); in Ploiesti, Romania (40,000 t/y); and in Izmir, Turkey (21,000 t/y).
For 2019, the company said 27 percent of its 138,000 tons of stand alone lubricant blending production came from the plant in Tyumen, followed by 24 percent from the site in Austria, 20 percent from the plant in Turkey, 16 percent from the facility in Finland, 8 percent from the Romania plant and 5 percent from the new plant in Kazakhstan.
The company said the new plant’s location in Almaty near the border with China “will optimize Lukoil’s lubricant-related logistics in Kazakhstan and Central Asia.” Last year it also upgraded blending operations at Perm, Volgograd and Tyumen.
Lukoil is the largest lubricants marketer in Russia. In 2019, about 40 percent of total lubricants in the country were produced in facilities operated by the oil major. The company noted that sales of Lukoil-branded lubricants reached 574,000 tons last year.
A former OMV lubricant blending plant in Austria, in Lobau, Vienna, became one of the most technically advanced plants in Europe following investment by Lukoil several years ago.