The shift to electric vehicles will make a significant dent in global passenger car motor oil demand within 20 years, attendees at an industry conference were told last week, and that in turn will create a drag on API Group III base oils. Kline & Co. Industry Manager Sharbel Luzuriaga forecasted that global passenger car motor oil could fall between 23% and 35% by 2040, depending on the pace of electrification.

Luberef signed memorandums of understanding with several companies this month, agreeing to explore the possibility of constructing facilities to produce specialty lubricants or fluids at a lubricant hub it is developing in Yanbu’al Bahr, Saudi Arabia.

France’s lubricant consumption was flat at 44.4 million tons in September, nearly unchanged from the same month last year, Paris-based Professional Lubricants Center reported in data released Nov. 15. Automotive lubricants consumption was also flat, while industrial lubricant consumption decreased 5% and use of process oils jumped.