Global base oil manufacturing capacity now tips the scales at roughly 55 million metric tons a year (1.11 million barrels a day). And while the building frenzy of the past decade seems to be easing, Asias refiners still aim to stream nearly 2 million new tons of capacity - the equivalent of two world-class base oil refineries - by the end of 2019.

Fujian Jinrong Energy Technology broke ground on a base oil rerefinery that will use proprietary technology co-developed by the firm and Chinese partners.

Chinas base oil capacity has expanded significantly in recent years, but at least some refiners are now producing well below capacity. In the short term, that may be due partly to reduced demand during the slack season for lubricant demand, but the market also appears to be fundamentally oversupplied.

South Korean police arrested a chemical products distribution trio that allegedly sold the military fake specialty lubricants thought to have caused multiple equipment malfunctions.