Russia’s Gazpromneft Lubricants, operator of the Gazprom Neft lubricants business, has begun production of TDAE (Treated Distillate Aromatic Extracts) at its Omsk Lubricants Plant, using its own unique patented technology. Investment in the project, including the modernisation of a 17,000-tonne-per-year plasticizer facility at the Omsk Refinery, came to more than RUB400 million (USD6.8 million).

The new product, which is designed to give plasticity and flexibility to rubber, tyres and fabricated rubber products, meets the latest international environmental requirements.

Gazpromneft TDAE plasticizers have successfully passed EC registration requirements under the REACH Regulation on chemical safety, as well as laboratory testing on the basis of 24 metrics required by one of the world’s most important international tyre producers.

In addition to the tyre component, the research cycle was also applied to finished tyres manufactured using Gazpromneft TDAE. Coverings for sports tyres demonstrated full compliance – as tested under bench testing and on a special track – with European standards for finished products.

“Gazprom Neft was Russia’s first vertically integrated company to start production of safe and environmentally friendly plasticizers, to European standards. The use of pure raw materials, in combination with the application of advanced technologies, gives these oils excellent performance characteristics and makes them safe for human health. This is a 100% domestic product, produced in Russia, from Russian components, under Russian technologies,” said Alexander Trukhan, CEO of Gazpromneft Lubricants.

Gazpromneft Lubricants, a subsidiary of Gazprom Neft, specialises in the production and sale of lubricants and service fluids. Established in November 2007, Gazpromneft Lubricants has six production facilities throughout Russia, Italy and Serbia. Total production volumes are more than 500,000 tonnes per year. The Omsk Lubricants Plant is one of Russia’s state-of-the-art lube blending and packaging facility, with a total annual capacity of 300,000 tonnes per year.