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Gazpromneft Marine Bunker Ltd says it has performed its first ship delivery of marine lubricant oil to a vessel operated by Chevron in the Russian port of Ust-Luga.

The delivery was arranged in cooperation with Gazpromneft-Lubricants - Gazprom Neft's oil and lubricants business operator - as part of an agreement that the firm has as a member of Chevron's global supply network.

The Gazpromneft West bunker vessel delivered 13.5 tonnes of Chevron's TARO 40 XL 40 X marine oil to the 40,549-deadweight-tonne (dwt) crude oil tanker Seamarlin.

Prior to the Gazpromneft West delivery, supplies of marine lubricants at Ust-Luga had only been carried out using road tankers and in barrels, Gazpromneft Marine Bunker says.

Gazpromneft-Lubricants specialises in the production and sale of oils, lubricants and service fluids. Established in 2007, it has five production facilities throughout Russia, Italy and Serbia. Total production volumes of premium oils, lubricants and service fluids stand at 500,000 tonnes per year.

Chevron marine oils are currently available at more than 600 ports worldwide, including major Russian ports. Texaco-branded marine oils are produced under licence from Chevron Marine Lubricants (CML) at Gazpromneft-Lubricants' facilities in Italy and Russia. The marine oils are produced from Russian base oils using Chevron Oronite additives.

According to Gazpromneft-Lubricants, last year it was Russia's leading supplier of marine oils by volume with a market share of 26 percent, following a threefold increase in sales from 2,500 tonnes in 2014 to 8,000 tonnes last year.

Contracts entered into with customers including Norilsk Nickel, Far East Shipping Company (FESCO), FSUE Rosmorport and CJSC Rosnefteflot are said to have helped increase the company's client portfolio by 50 percent.

In June, Bunker Index reported that the company had entered into an agreement with Sovcomflot for the supply of marine lubricants. The deal includes three new Arctic tankers - Shturman Albanov, Shturnman Malygin and Shturman Ovtsyn - that will use Gazprom lubricants when transporting crude oil as part of Gazprom Neft's development of the Novy Port oil and gas condensate field in Ob Bay.