Russian lube marketer Gazprom Neft-SM sold 8,000 tons of its premium G-Family finished lubricants during the first 10 months of 2012, a 150 percent increase compared to the similar period last year, the company said.
Expanded distribution channels and an increased assortment of products are directly related to the soaring sales of the Gazprom Neft-SM G-Family product line, according to Ivan Yakovlev, head of Gazprom Neft-SM strategic marketing and development department.
In 2012 we started direct distribution of our premium brand, G-Energy, at numerous auto service stations. At the moment this synthetic motor oil is offered at 1,200 service stations in Russia and abroad, he told Lube Report last week. Russian oil major Gazprom Nefts lube arm in October sold 1,500 tons of its premium lubes, of which 1,300 tons were distributed in Russia and 200 tons in Italy and other European nations.
Yakovlev attributed soaring sales to a significant expansion of Gazprom Neft products line, explaining that three synthetic diesel engine lubes-G-Profi GTS, G-Profi GT and G-Profi LA, as well as a line of cooling fluids marketed under G-Energy Antifreeze brand-were introduced at the beginning of the year.
The company made significant strides in 2012 to become a supplier for several Russian and international auto makers. We started to supply the General Motors plant in [the Russian western enclave of] Kaliningrad and also expanded the volumes sold to our partner Mercedes Benz Trucks Vostok, a trucks manufacturer based in the [Tatarstans second biggest] city of Naberezhnye Chelny.
The company also started to supply G-Family premium motor oils to the official distributor of Mercedes-Benz cars in Serbia. We supply these service stations for warranty and post-warranty service of passenger cars and commercial vehicles made by [Mercedes-Benz], Yakovlev said, crediting the companys efforts in testing and certification. In the course of a few very strict deadlines, the company succeeded in getting more than 10 OEM approvals for factory fill.
Gazprom Neft-SMs total lubricants production in 2011 amounted to 409,000 tons, including lubricants and base oils, or 20,000 tons less than the year before. The companys base oil exports were down 75,000 tons in 2011, compared to 2010. It operates a big lubricants production complex in Omsk, Western Siberia, which includes a plant with the capacity to make 240,000 t/y (4,600 b/d) of API Group I base oil, and a refurbished 70,000 t/y finished lubricants blending facility. It also manages a 30,000 t/y blending plant located in the Moscow oblast
Additionally it operates a 250,000 t/y Group I base oil plant in Yaroslavl, under the Slavneft 50-50 joint venture with TNK-BP, the Russian oil company that was recently acquired by Rosneft, Russias biggest crude oil producer. That facility is scheduled to be upgraded to produce 100,000 t/y of Group III base oil by 2014.
Gazprom Neft controls Serbias Naftna Industrija Srbije, which also markets finished lubricants under its own brand Nisotek. The company also operates a 30,000 t/y lubricants blending plant, purchased from Chevron in 2009, in Bari, Italy.
Gazproms Nefts effective use of marketing, along with its modernized, increased-capacity blending facility in Omsk make the company optimistic about the future expansion of its lubricants business in Russia and on the international markets, said Levan Kadagidze, head of Gazprom Nefts marketing department.
The company markets products in 35 countries, including Italy, Serbia and other South European countries, as well as in Belarus, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and other Central Asian countries.