Russian state-owned oil major Rosneft and petrochemicals company Sibur signed a five-year lubricants development and supply deal.
Under the five-year agreement, the parties pledged to evaluate Siburs demand for lubricants used in its facilities. The companies will jointly work on the development of lubricants that can meet Siburs requirements, Rosneft said in a recent press release. We plan to conduct development of joint projects aimed at lubricant production and import substitution.
Both companies also plan to cooperate in training to improve staff competence in production and sales of lubricants and other oil products.
In the last few months Rosneft has been establishing an affiliated company specialized in production, marketing and sale of lubricants. It will compete with LLK International and Gazprom Neft Lubricants, which are the lube arms of fellow Russian oil majors Lukoil and Gazprom Neft, Mikhail Semenov, Rosneft Lubricants Co.s head of technological division, told Lube Report on the sidelines of GBCs Lubricants and Fuels conference held in May in Moscow.
After Lukoil, Moscow-based Rosneft is the countrys second largest lubricants marketer. In 2013 it produced 601,000 tons of lubricants and base oils, and held a 26 percent share of the Russian lubricants market, according to Moscow-based InfoTek consultancy.
Sibur operates Russias largest gas processing business in terms of associated petroleum gas processing volumes, according to the companys website.