New Orleans – The lubricants industry is reeling from fallout from the war between the United States, Iran and Israel – a record run-up in base oil prices and base oil shortages around the world.  But the situation will probably worsen soon, according to speakers at a recent industry conference. Members of a panel discussion at the Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers’ annual conference and exhibition agreed that the full impact of the crisis...

Base oil inventories in the United States are shrinking as domestic demand accelerates, according to the latest figures published by the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Product supplied, the agency’s primary measure of consumption, passed 4 million barrels in March, the highest monthly level since 2023. On a trailing 12-month basis, it averaged about 3.15 million in the year ended March 2026, compared with about 2.3 million in the previous 12-month period, translating into growth of 37...

Hungarian energy company MOL Group said it is continuing to produce base oils, albeit at reduced rates, as the company recovers from a fire at its Százhalombatta refinery. The refinery plays an important role in the region’s fuel and base oil supply chain, being one of the largest in Central and Eastern Europe, with crude processing capacity of 165,000 barrels per day, or about 8.1 million metric tons annually. It is also one of a shrinking number of European API Group I plants, producing S...

UAE Smelter Backs Homegrown Lubricants Emirates Global Aluminium and ADNOC Distribution signed an agreement on May 7 under which ADNOC Distribution will supply locally blended industrial lubricants to EGA’s facilities across the UAE. The arrangement supports equipment reliability and operational efficiency while underscoring ADNOC Distribution’s evolution from a fuel retailer into a domestic industrial lubricant producer. The full production chain — from base oil manufacturing to blending ...

ExxonMobil has suspended operations at one of its chemical manufacturing plants in Singapore, citing unfavorable market conditions, according to report in local media. The decision to mothball the unit removes 900,000 metric tons per year of ethylene production capacity from the market. ExxonMobil’s Singapore complex operates two steam crackers with a combined annual ethylene production capacity of 1.9 million metric tons. Cracker No. 2, which remains in operation, has capacity of 1 million me...