Oil products marketer Petroser said last week it is nearing completion of a lubricant blending plant being built in partnership with BP in Western Algeria. A Petroser official said the companies undertook the project to take advantage of steady growth in one of North Africas biggest lubricant markets.
Currently, and for a number of years, the Algerian market is experiencing significant development, and demand is increasing every year, said Baghdad Aoued, director for lubricants.
Aoued told Lube Report the plant is being constructed outside Oran, an important port and Algerias second-largest city. Installation of equipment is complete, and the facility is on schedule to open before the end of this year. It will have capacity to make 40,000 metric tons of lubricants per year and comes with a price tag of 30 million (U.S. $47.4 million).
Petroser, which is based in Bouhanifia commune, approximately 100 kilometers south of Oran, is footing the bill for the project, Aoued said. BP is contributing formulation and expertise about blending procedures. The companies have a business relationship dating to 2005, when Petroser became exclusive distributor in Algeria of BPs synthetic and semi-synthetic lubricants.
BP is headquartered in the United Kingdom and is one of the worlds largest publicly owned energy and lubricant suppliers.