Aiming to serve what it describes as a vibrant Algerian transportation market, petroleum products distributor Petro Baraka recently opened a lubricant blending plant with capacity of 60,000 metric tons per year.
The company claims to be Algeria’s largest domestic producer of automotive lubricants. The plant is one of several recent investment in the country’s lube market.
The cost of Petro Baraka’s factory was not disclosed.
Algeria consumes around 180,000 t/y of finished lubricants, according to some estimates. Petro Baraka plant, located in the town of Biskra, around 400 kilometers southeast of the capital of Algiers, could replace 15% of the imported products, news site El Watan reported on May 4.
The plant will produce automotive and industrial lubricants, and Petro Baraka aspires to expand sales to other countries in Africa and the Middle East.
The idea for the lubricant plant emerged with the establishment of our network of more than 200 Petro Baraka branded petroleum stations, the company told El Watan, adding that these locations needed to be supplied with ranges of lubricants and greases in accordance with the car manufacturers’ recommendations.
Petro Baraka stores and distributes fuels, lubricants, greases and car maintenance products, as well as liquefied petroleum gas. It also markets and installs LPG car kits.
Officials said Algeria’s car market is one of the most vibrant in North Africa and that they are confident that products labeled “Made in Algeria” will play well with consumers.
The company said that it is now in a process of obtaining lubricant approvals from international car and truck makers present in the country such as Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen, Renault and Volvo.
Rachid Nadil, the head of the country’s Hydrocarbons Regulatory Authority said earlier this month that Algeria will sharply reduce imports of lubricants and greases thanks to three recent and ongoing investments, including Petro Baraka’s. One of the other projects was a 40,000 t/y blending plant that TotalEnergies opened last year.