Norway-based oil and gas major TOTAL SA said Oct. 15 it has opened a new lubricants oil blending plant in the Kaluga region of Russia.

The blending and production plant will allow Total to localize the production of its top-tier lubricants for the Russian market. With an investment equivalent to $50 million, this facility has been designed to produce initially 40,000 tons of automotive and industrial lubricants per year, with a scale-up option to bring this capacity up to 70,000 tons per year.

"In addition to our upstream activities, Russia is also one of the highest priority development markets for our marketing and services and downstream products, especially lubricants," Total CEO Patrick Pouyanné said. "This new plant will strengthen our position in the Russian and Central Asian markets. It is fully in line with our strategy to grow profitability in developing markets and contribute strongly to the group's financial performance."