Gazprom Neft Refuels a Ship With Biofuel for the First Time in Russia
The operator of Gazprom Neft’s bunkering business, Gazprom Neft Marine Bunker, has carried out the first in Russia refueling of marine transport with biocomponent-based marine fuel. Test bunkering with low-carbon fuel was carried out in the port of St. Petersburg. The marine biofuel production project was implemented by Gazpromneft Marine Bunker jointly with the “Tasty. And That’s It” fast food chain and Ecoway.
The biofuel formula was developed on the basis of low-sulfur marine fuel from Gazprom Neft and used cooking oil. The preparation of secondary raw materials was carried out at the Ecoway enterprise, where a unique technological processing is carried out: multi-stage settling, filtration and heat treatment. Mixing of the component base, production, laboratory control, storage and transshipment of marine biofuel take place at the Gazprom Neft terminal in the port of St. Petersburg. The new fuel complies with technical regulations and can be used on most sea and river vessels.
Gazprom Neft is the leader in environmentally friendly bunkering in Russia. The company was the first in the country to bring to the market a fuel with a sulfur content below 0.1%, intended for special shipping zones, and last year it began refueling marine vehicles with environmentally friendly liquefied natural gas. At present, more than 90% of our product range consists of marine fuels of a high ecological class. We are considering further expansion of our product portfolio, including through biofuels. The test refueling in St. Petersburg showed that the new green fuel is fully consistent with traditional petroleum products in terms of its technical characteristics, while its use significantly reduces the carbon footprint,” Anton Sobolev, General Director of Gazpromneft Marine Bunker.
“Our company is a leader and pioneer in building a circular economy model in the catering industry in Russia. Over 10 years ago, we were the first to recycle used cooking oil. We are proud that last year the production of biodiesel was localized in Russia, and this year we have successfully implemented a project to create a unique fuel for maritime transport. Every year, the company sends all used cooking oil for processing – this is more than 5.5 thousand tons. Now part of the processed products will be used as a bio-component for marine fuel. For the company, this is an important and conscious step in the implementation of the sustainable development strategy,” – Irina Korshunova, Senior Director for Sustainable Development, “Tasty. And That’s It”.
“The Ecoway company collects and processes used cooking oil from “Tasty. And That’s It” in several regions of Russia. Over the past few years, Ecoway has been actively working on re-introducing used cooking oil into the production process. In cooperation with Gazprom Neft and “Tasty. And That’s It”, we have achieved great results in using used cooking oil as a bio-component for marine fuel,” Christina Ten, CEO of Ecoway.
