Slavneft will upgrade its base oil plant in Yaroslavl, Russia, to produce 100,000 metric tons per year of API Group III oils by early 2014.
Based in Moscow, Slavneft is a 50-50 joint venture between Russian oil companies TNK-BP and Gazpromneft. The Yaroslavl refinery includes Slavnefts only base oil plant, which currently has capacity to make 250,000 t/y of Group I oils.
The partners of the joint venture agreed on the upgrade late last year, TNK-BP officials said last week in response to questions from Lube Report. The plant will process bottoms from a hydrocracking unit in the refinerys fuels train and dewax them to produce base oils. The joint venture plans this year to finalize process designs and to choose a licensing company to provide technology that will be needed by the plant.
Once the plant begins operating, TNK-BP and Gazprom will each have rights to half of the Group III output.