Thanks to its lower sulphur content, this fuel will be used on international as well as domestic shipping routes.
The 1st consignment, of 10,000 tonnes, has been shipped to customers in the Port of St Petersburg by Gazpromneft-Marine Bunker, operator of the Gazprom Neft bunkering business.
The Moscow Refinery is expected to produce 100,000 tonnes of hybrid marine fuel - manufactured to the company’s own bespoke formulation - by the end of 2021.
Production and blending of this hybrid marine fuel (which has a sulphur content of less than 0.5%) has, until now, been handled at the Omsk Refinery and at Gazpromneft-Marine Bunker’s terminals in St Petersburg and Novorossiysk.
Anatoly Cherner, Deputy Chairman of Gazprom Neft, noted:
- Gazprom Neft was among the 1st to bring low-sulphur marine fuel - meeting global environmental standards - to market in Russia.
- Thanks to their high quality and optimum formulations, our products enjoy consistent demand, and are supplied to most Russian ports.
- Mastering production of a new hybrid fuel at the Moscow Refinery - following on from the Omsk Refinery - is giving us the chance to optimise logistics and expand our sales coverage, resulting in additional volumes of a high-quality domestic product for the Russian shipping market
Manufacturing of this cutting-edge fuel is one of the outcomes of the Moscow Refinery’s modernisation programme - additional measuring and control equipment, as well as a further 400 metres of pipelines, having been installed to allow its production.