A new facility for production of Group III-quality base oils has been commissioned at the JSC Slavneft-YANOS refinery, part of OAO NGK Slavneft, a joint enterprise between Gazprom Neft PJSC and Rosneft.
The facility, which has a capacity of 100,000 tonnes per year, is designed to produce four kinds of high-technology base oils, two of which have not, hitherto, been produced in Russia. The commissioning of this facility will allow the replacement of up to 40 percent of products currently imported for the production of high-performance motor oils on the domestic market.
Construction of the facility commenced in 2015. Total investment in the project stands at RUB5.5 billion. The new facility forms part of the plant’s production chain, with crude for the facility being supplied from the YANOS hydrocracking unit.
Group III base oils are the basis for the production of modern commercial oils, in demand from various sectors, from vehicular transport to major enterprises. The advantages of this product are its high viscosity, low sulphur and nitrogen content, and excellent performance at low temperatures. A promising area for the use of Group III base oils lies in the production of a special fraction used as the basis for drilling muds, a significant proportion of which is currently imported from abroad.
Petr Degtyarev, Director of Gazprom Neft’s Oil Refining Directorate, commented: “The development of the domestic oil refining industry is currently ahead of the curve. We are continually modernising production capacity and implementing ambitious plans that will result in the domestic market being supplied with high-quality Russian-produced petroleum products. Starting production of Group III base oils at the YANOS refinery will not only allow the implementation of a lubricants import substitution programme, but will also give additional impetus to the development of new products in demand from Russian consumers”.
