Sovcomflot and Gazprom Neft sign MoU

As part of the Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum, Sovcomflot and Gazprom Neft have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the supply of marine lubricants. The MOU document was signed by Sergey Frank, President and CEO of PAO Sovcomflot, and Alexander Dyukov, Chairman of the Management Board of Gazprom Neft, the Group said Friday in a press release.

The new agreement provides for the potential expansion of the existing marine lubricants supply geography and an increase in the number of ships using these lubricants to 19 within the next two years.

Currently, marine lubricants supplied by Gazprom Neft are used on six Sovcomflot tankers, including its Arctic shuttle tankers Kirill Lavrov and Mikhail Ulyanov, which are used to transport oil from the Prirazlomnoye field owned by Gazprom Neft Shelf. In addition, Gazprom Neft marine lubricants will be used on Sovcomflot’s three new Arctic tankers – Shturman Albanov, Shturnman Malygin and Shturman Ovtsyn. These vessels will be added to the company’s fleet in 2016 to transport oil from Ob Bay, as part of the development of the Novy Port oil and gas condensate field by Gazprom Neft.

Gazpom Neft Lubricants, the lubricants business of Gazprom Neft, has been producing marine lubricants since 2012. In 2015, in connection with the restrictions established by MARPOL , it launched the production of marine lubricants with improved characteristics especially designed for engines using low sulphur fuel. Last year Gazpom Neft Lubricants became the leader in the supply of marine lubricants in Russia, increasing its market share to 26 per cent.  

Alexander Dyukov, Chairman of the Management Board of Gazprom Neft, said: “The lubricants business strategy of Gazprom Neft provides for investments in technologies and infrastructure to achieve the best quality of products of services. All lubricants we produce in Russia are not inferior to products of leading world producers by their characteristics, and are a good alternative price wise. This facilitates implementation of the import substitution policy and allows us to offer our partners solutions that can significantly increase the efficiency of their business.”

Sergey Frank, President and CEO of Sovcomflot, added: “The signing of today’s memorandum is logical – Sovcomflot Group and Gazprom Neft have been successfully cooperating for a long time, including within the major industrial project Prirazlomonye. This year, the partnership relationships between our companies will be taken to a new level – Sovcomflot’s Arctic shuttle tankers will start to transport crude oil year-round from Ob Bay, under the Novy Port project, for the first time. SCF is confident in Gazprom Neft as a reliable supplier, whose products meet the highest international quality and environmental standards.”

About SCF Group
SCF Group of companies (SCF) is one of the world's leading shipping companies, specialising in the transportation of crude oil, petroleum products, and liquefied gas. The Group’s fleet comprises 140 vessels with a total deadweight of over 12.2 million tonnes. The company is registered in St. Petersburg with offices in Moscow, Novorossiysk, Murmansk, Vladivostok, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, London, Limassol, and Dubai. The Group offers a wide range of vessels in the market segments most demanded by major Russian oil and gas companies. With its own technical development and unique approach to advanced technologies, Sovcomflot has the ability to meet the most demanding customer requirements, providing effective transportation for oil & gas companies.