Gazprom Neft begins production of its own drilling oils

Gazpromneft-Lubricants, operator of the Gazprom Neft lubricants business, has become the 1st company in Russia to start producing oils for the production of drilling fluids using its own technology.

The range includes four import substitutes under the Gazpromneft Drilline brand name, with total production volumes of up to 5,000 tonnes per year.
Implementing this project has allowed Gazprom Neft to almost completely eliminate the use of imported base oils in the drilling-fluid processing chain, as well as reducing expenditure on this raw material by 30%.

Specialist oils are the main component of oil-based drilling fluids, most commonly used in constructing high-tech wells under complex geological conditions.
The proportion of base oils in the composition of a hydrocarbon-based drilling fluid ranges from 70% to 90%.

The development of drilling fluids based around the company's own oils has been undertaken by Gazpromneft-Lubricants together with specialists from the Gazprom Neft Science and Technology Center, supported by the Russian State Gubkin University of Oil and Gas.

Special low-viscosity base oils are produced at the Slavneft-YANOS refinery (part of NGK Slavneft, in which Gazprom Neft has an interest of approximately 50%).
Specialists from the Gazprom Neft Science and Technology Center undertook analysis of competitive internation.