Shell’s move to buy BG (a spin-off from British Gas in 1997) has been perceived as being a “bold gamble” on the oil price rising to $90 by 2018. Is this deal - set to be the largest ever between two British companies - the first of another round of consolidation similar to that of the 1990’s, when BP swallowed Amoco eventually triggering the ExxonMobil merger? The lower oil price may make some companies more affordable, so this could be an interesting waiting game.
April seems to be bringing a minor economic uplift in Europe. Despite the ongoing Greek debacle, the PMI for many of the Eurozone countries is in positive territory at 52.2 - a 10-month high.
The delayed arrival of quantitative easing finally seems to be providing the confidence and the stimulus necessary. It is, of course, seven years now since the financial crisis of 2008, so the European recovery is following the path predicted by Reinhart and Rogoff. However slow, this is an encouraging recovery and even though the Russian economy is struggling - particularly in the automotive sector - the rest of Europe should pick up activity and lubes volumes should rise slightly.
Specifications continue to be in the news. VLS is receiving a steady stream of requests for investigation, many of which relate to divergence of actual product performance with the claims or misalignment of the Product data sheets with permissible claims as allowed by ACEA. It is to be hoped that this programme will continue to maintain a level playing field and that other national initiatives will prove to be similarly successful.
For the consumer, you and I in our non-working lives, making the right choice is challenging. From a business perspective, some of our customers have more than 12 products that could be offered and it is clear that consumers want simplicity.
Which poses the questions: how far does reverse compatibility really work, and can the choice be made simple?
This places a real challenge on product matching, the product matching tool being used and the judgements being made when using it. At what point does the technical fit end and the marketing process begin and can those judgements be reviewed and easily adjusted? These are exactly the issues that OATS new Product Manager solution, part of the earlFUSiON platform, aims to address to enhance the product matching process for lubes producers, OEMs and consumers alike.
To find out more about the latest suite of earlFUSiON products, or comment on anything you have read in this month's Bulletin, simply contact us by e-mail or follow our updates on social media via Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Google+.
Sebastian Crawshaw
Chairman - OATS