Shell opens new GTL and bulk storage facilities; Hunstman starts ethylene amine production in Saudi; PTT pushes for export; Repsol and Suzuki tie up and US consumers look for synthetics deals.
Starting in the Middle East, where two major sites have been inaugurated. In Qatar, it is the new Ras Lafan Pearl Gas-to-Liquids (GTL) site, where the steam boilers were the first of 2,500 systems to be powered up on the road to production for the largest oil and gas construction project in the industry. A joint venture with Qatar Petroleum, the site will be manufacturing liquid fuels, lubricants and chemical feedstock from natural gas by 2011.
Production also started at Huntsman Corporations's $288m ethylene amine plant in Jubail, Saudi Arabia. The site is a joint-venture with Zamil Group, a family-owned Saudi conglomerate. Annual production will start at 27,000 tonnes, with a 41,000 tonne capacity available. The plant will boost global supply of ethylene amines, which are used in fuel additives, by 6.5%.
And in the Jebel Ali Free Zone (Jafza Shell opened a new bulk storage facility for finished lubricants. The UAE site will raise Shell's existing capacity by 550 metric tons to a total of 2000 metric tons and will include marine lubricants.
Tanker and ferry Image: Wirralwater |
Also in the marine sector, Sri Lanka's oil producer Lanka IOC are expanding availability of their recently launched Servo Marine Lubricants through a bonded warehouse in Colombo. The facility will service vessels stopping in Colombo, Galle and Trincomalee.
Thailand's Petroleum Authority (PTT) intends to continue lubricants export growth, with a stated aim of increasing export sales from seven to 10 million litres and a key target of the Chinese market. At the same time, PTT also announced that it would not be increasing its lubes prices providing crude costs remain below $80/barrel.
In the automotive sector, Spanish lubricants producer Repsol have announced a deal with Suzuki to become dealership lubes supplier for the Japanese brand. The deal is for three years.
And finally, following research highlighted in last October's OATS Bulletin which showed US consumers preferred named lubricant brands, new NPD research shows that the same consumers will look for a deal to buy them. The Car Care Trac report states that to the year ending November 2009, there was an 8% increase in consumers who paid a special or sale price for motor oil and were slightly more likely to buy fully synthetics.