Turkmenistans state-owned oil companies recently opened the countrys first lubricant blending plant, a facility that is expected to meet all of the nations motor oil needs. The plant was part of a larger project that included construction of a Group II base oil refinery.
The lube facilities are located at Turkmennefts oil refinery at Turkmenbashi, on the eastern shore of the Caspian Sea. Costs for the lube facilities were not available, although they constitute a just a small part of the $1.4 billion modernization that the oil refinery is undergoing.
The base oil refinery, which opened earlier this year, has capacity to produce 1,500 barrels per day of Group II stocks, according to Chemlube International, which provided technical services and laboratory equipment for the projects and coordinated with Chevron Oronite to supply additives for the blending plant. Products range from SN 80 to SN 1,200, with viscosity indices of at least 93, sulfur contents of no more than 0.02 percent and ash contents of up to 0.05 percent.
The base oils produced by that refinery are pretty high quality compared to whats being produced in the region, said Oleg Kornienko, Chemlubes vice president of petrochemicals. It is only the second base oils plant within the former Soviet Union to produce something better than Group I.
He added that some of the base oil will go to the blending plant but that there will also be surplus for export to parts of the Middle East and the eastern Mediterranean region.
The capacity of the blending plant was unavailable, but Chemlube said it is large enough to supply 100 percent of Turkmenistans motor oil demand and 50 percent of its industrial lubricant consumption.