The problem of fuel quality has been very acute for Russian motorists for a long time. Fortunately, the situation is changing at a fast pace: the leading manufacturers understand that the stable proposed quality of the fuel is the key advantage in the competition for the customer’s trust.
For many years Rosneft, a leader in the automotive fuel market, has been successfully supplying products compliant with all required quality standards. This is not a simple task, it requires an integrated approach to the solution, and Rosneft’s comprehensive approach allows to guarantee the fuel quality at any filling station of the Company's network.
In accordance with current requirements, the Company refineries are implementing a large-scale modernization program, which implies a significant increase in processing depth and quality of produced petroleum products (all motor fuels will comply with the European ecological class "Euro-5"). Technology develops fast; therefore, it is important to modernize the production regularly, introducing cutting-edge processes. In addition, Rosneft runs a special fuel quality control program at all transportation stages, which allows us to ensure the stability of fuel parameters throughout its "life": from the factory to the car tank. One of the program principles is excluding the services of third-party contractors with unstable reputation. The company plants produce fuel from own oil; the products undergo multistage tests and receive a manufacturer's quality certificate - practically a start in life.
Along with careful control at the refinery, inspections are performed at all stages of fuel supply to the filling stations. The way from the factory tank to the filling station takes many kilometers of pipelines, transportation by railway and truck tanks, storage of fuel in tanks, and at each stage, Rosneft controls the process, monitors the technical condition of fuel storage tanks, transportation vehicles and the activity of the shipment operators.
Undoubtedly, the personnel experience is another essential factor. Timely preventive maintenance and updating all control and executive mechanisms practically exclude the probability of a malfunction or an error. Nevertheless, in order to be absolutely confident about the quality of the proposed fuel, Rosneft begins checking all product parameters at the production stage and continues testing them upon its completion. How exactly?
Upon producing a batch of fuel, the tank is "closed" for certification, that is, no operations with fuel are performed in this tank for a certain time (no filling in or dispatching from the tank). Only after a quality passport is issued, further operations with this batch of fuel are allowed. Fuel is shipped to railway tanks.
Before a tank takes off, the fuel is tested again: this time, against a shorter checklist of indicators, to see if the quality has changed during the shipment. Further on, the tanks are sent to the tank farm, a sort of transshipment point on the way to the gas station. Before the fuel enters the storage, its main characteristics are analyzed again. Why? In order to make sure that the fuel tank received the fuel of exactly the same type and quality as was loaded into the tank. That is, to exclude even a theoretic possibility of deterioration in the quality or supply of another fuel type.
Although in fact, in the Company’s experience, no cases of mere theft have been discovered. Nevertheless, control is mandatory. It is also required when the fuel is drained into the reservoirs at the tank farm. All the tanks are properly prepared, i.e. at the time of the fuel loading into the tanks, no fuel of other type remains in the tanks. However, in order to completely eliminate any technological mix-ups, the fuel is then tested in the tanks.
The fuel from the tank is then to be delivered to the filling station, with more shipping, transportation, discharge. At each of these stages, both in the beginning and at the end, quality control is ensured. This is the only way to ensure that the fuel delivered to the customer's vehicle tank is of the quality the refinery has provided.
The quality control does not stop here. All the equipment testing the fuel has been verified, so the reliability of its data is confirmed. Apart from the stationary laboratories, the Company has mobile facilities prepared to promptly analyze the product at any stage of the fuel supply chain.
By the way, anyone can share their opinion about a filling station of the Rosneft network: hotline phone numbers are posted at all Company's gas stations. Each claim or comment is checked and investigated. Virtually, in the vast majority of cases, the expertise confirms full compliance of the fuel quality with the applicable standards.