Gazprom Neft last week commissioned a process oil production unit at its refinery in Omsk, Western Siberia. The U.S. $7 million plant has 17,000 metric tons per year capacity and is operated by Gazpromneft-Lubricants.
The company said it introduced its own technology for production of distillate aromatic extract for manufacturing of oil-extended natural or synthetic rubber used for production of tires and other fabricated rubber products.
Gazpromneft-Lubricants treated distillate aromatic extract has successfully passed the European Union registration requirements under the Registration, Evaluation and Authorization of Chemicals (REACH), the company said in its Aug. 28 news release. The finished product went through an extensive lab testing based on two dozen factors demanded by an international tire producer.
REACH is a regulation that governs use, labeling and handling of chemicals in the EU member states.
Gazprom Neft is the countrys first vertically integrated oil company to start production of process oils under the strict REACH regulation, said Alexander Trukhan, Gazpromneft-Lubricants general director.
The company said the process oils produced in Omsk are made from Russian base oils and raw materials and under its own propriety technology.
Moscow-based Gazpromneft-Lubricants is the third-largest lubricant marketer in Russia. In 2016 it held 15 percent of the countrys approximately 1.6 million ton-lubricant market, according to consultancy Kline & Co., which usually includes process oil in its finished lubricant demand estimates.
Photo courtesy Gazprom Neft