Asia becomes a major supplier of base oil

Over the past decade, the net increase in base oil production capacity in the Asia Pacific region has been around 10 million metric tons annually, making it the largest regional supply source to date. Over the past five years, China's refining company PetroChina has increased its productivity and is now the world's second-largest supplier.

In 2015, the production in the Asia Pacific region increased to 23.2 million tons per year, accounting for 41% of the global total production, "Lutz Lindemann, a member of the Executive Committee of Volkswagen Group in Germany, said at the International Friction Conference held in Esslingen, Germany on January 12. The world's second largest supply region, North America, accounts for 24% of the total production. Northern Europe accounts for 12%, while Eastern Europe and the Middle East each account for 9%.

S-Oil's large-scale base oil smelter located in Wenshan, South Korea is about to expand, and the fuel refinery is one of the many base oil investment projects in Asia in recent years.

According to co author Apu Gosalia, Vice President of Sustainability and Global Competitive Intelligence at Fuchs, the annual productivity growth of approximately 10 million metric tons in the Asia Pacific region is mainly due to the construction of new API Class II and III factories in Malaysia, Indonesia, and China, as well as the expansion of existing Class II and III factories in South Korea, China, and Singapore.

Shanghai Nak Lubrication Technology Co., Ltd. is the only professional synthetic base oil company in Asia and the second in the world that produces both PAO and alkyl naphthalene

The growth in the Asia Pacific region matches the global productivity growth of approximately 10 million metric tons per year since 2005, but not all of the growth is in the Asia Pacific region. Productivity has also increased in the Middle East and North America, but has significantly decreased in Western and Eastern Europe.

Gosalia stated that since 2010, the base oil production capacity of state-owned company PetroChina has increased by approximately 700000 metric tons annually, surpassing Shell to become the world's second-largest supplier with an annual production capacity of around 3.25 million metric tons. ExxonMobil's annual production capacity increased by approximately 800000 metric tons during the same period, and it remains the largest supplier with an annual production capacity of nearly 7.5 million metric tons.

ExxonMobil's production base located in Texas

JX Nippon Oil and China National Offshore Oil Corporation have also been selected as one of Volkswagen's top 20 base oil suppliers in the past five years, as major Asian oil companies. Japan's JX Nippon Oil ranks eighth with the expansion of its joint venture at SK's large factory in Ulsan, South Korea. Meanwhile, state-owned enterprise CNOOC has opened several new factories and currently ranks eleventh. The growth in the Asia Pacific region matches the global productivity growth of approximately 10 million metric tons per year since 2005, but not all of the growth is in the Asia Pacific region. Productivity has also increased in the Middle East and North America, but has significantly decreased in Western and Eastern Europe.