In 2017, Gazpromneft-Lubricants sold 279,400 tons of finished lubricants that it puts under premium category, an 8 percent uptick over the year before. Last year the company increased its total lubricant production (including base oils and finished lubricants) by 7 percent to up to 580,300 tons.

The growth in sales was helped by the stronger position the company now enjoys in Russia and development of the exports to few new markets, the company said in its recent news release.

It said it now sells lubricants to 72 states total and last year it entered such markets as Thailand, Iran, Peru Senegal and South Africa.

In Russia, the company sold 385,000 tons of finished lubricants in 2017. In the same year its automotive oils sales rose by 2 percent over 2016, while its industrial lubricant sales stagnated.

The increased sales are related with the advancement of new products in demand and introduction of new technical services, Gazpromneft-Lubricants said.

Last year the company also introduced its first flagship marine oil product branded as Gazpromneft Ocean. It is a line of marine oils for icebreakers, tank and container carriers, ferries and cruise liners. Last year the company sold a total of 14,700 tons of marine oils.

At its base oil plant in Yarsolavl, Gazpromneft-Lubricants begun production of base oils for formulations in drilling fluids.

This project has allowed us to completely eliminate the use of imported base oil in the drilling fluid processing as well as reducing expenditure on this raw material by 30 percent, the company said. Last Gazpromneft-Lubricants sold over 5,000 tons of such fluids.

It its Omsk refinery it also started to produce process oils. The refinery has capacity to produce 17,000 tons of process oils annually. In Omsk the company operates a 110,000 tons per year blending plant.

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.