Gazprom Neft starts construction of premium base oil units in Omsk refinery

Gazprom Neft has begun construction of a hydroisodewaxing complex at its Omsk base oil refinery in Russia.

This complex will produce base oils for premium lubricants used on modern automotive equipment and industrial machinery, allowing the company to stop using imported base oils. The facility has a design capacity of 220,000 tonnes per year. Gazprom Neft’s investment in this project stands at more than RUB32 billion (USD428.6 million).

Construction of the hydroisodewaxing complex is being synchronised with the planned development of Gazprom Neft’s Omsk Refinery. Feedstocks for production of Group II and Group III base oils will be supplied from the hydrocracking unit at the deep refining complex due to be commissioned at the Omsk Refinery in 2021. 

Equipment for the future facility is being produced by leading Russian enterprises Volgogradneftemash (Volgograd) and Uralhimmash (Ekaterinburg). Construction works are expected to be completed by the end of 2020.

This new complex will allow Gazprom Neft to expand production of its premium finished lubricant products under the G-Energy brand. Gazprom Neft plans to increase its share of Russia’s packaged lubricants market to 25%.

“Replacing imported alternatives with our own Group II and Group III base oils will allow us to cut the cost of ready-to-use motor oils, while improving their competitiveness. Apart from which, the new complex will allow us to expand our premium G-Energy and Gazpromneft synthetic-lubricants ranges,” said Anatoly Cherner, deputy CEO for Logistics, Processing and Sales, of Gazprom Neft.

Gazpromneft-Lubricants is a subsidiary of Gazprom Neft, specialising in the production and sale of oils, lubricants and service fluids. Established in 2007, Gazpromneft-Lubricants has six production facilities in Russia, Italy and Serbia.