Industry experts such as Kline & Co., Fuchs Petrolub and SBA Consulting estimate the worlds finished lubricants demand at well below 40 million tons, so it seems logical to conclude that the world has ample base oil supply for its needs. But imbalances abound, a look at the 2014 Guide makes clear, and many regions are either awash or void in specific base oil types.

Western and Eastern Europe, for example, together have 40 percent of the worlds Group I capacity — and a scant 2 percent of the Group II.

The United States, by contrast, has only 15 percent of the worlds Group I supply, but its a world-beater in making Group II, a position that was cemented by the late-May inauguration of Chevrons 25,000 barrel-per-day Group II refinery in Pascagoula. The U.S. now has 45 percent of global Group II refining capacity. Its even farther ahead in making naphthenic base oil, with 53 percent of global pale oil capacity. But when it comes to manufacturing Group III, the U.S. posts a blank, as the 2014 Guide shows.

For Group III, South Korea remains the leader with 49,000 daily barrels, or 42 percent of this segment. The Middle East, with a 26 percent share of the global Group III total, also pumps large volumes of the product, but its capacity was largely unchanged over the past year while Korean refiners notched gains that started with upgrades at S-Oils refinery in Onsan, S. Korea.

Now capable of 40,500 b/d of Group II and III (plus a tiny volume of Group I), Onsan earns bragging rights as the worlds largest base oil refinery, nosing out Motiva which has 40,300 b/d in Port Arthur, Texas. The worlds third-largest facility is SK Lubricants in Ulsan, S. Korea, with 40,000 b/d, the 2014 Guide shows.

The 2014 Guide to Global Base Oil Refining is a bright 33-by-22 inch poster that was mailed along with the June issue to print subscribers to LubesnGreases magazine. The magazine mailed a copy to its digital subscribers in the United States and Canada as well.

This is the 10th edition of LubesnGreases Global Guide, and it identifies 168 base oil refineries and rerefineries worldwide, providing their owners, locations and capacities in barrels per day. A color-coded map pinpoints each refinerys location as well.

When the first edition was published 10 years ago, Group I accounted for two-thirds of the worlds supply. Today, even at 47 percent of the total, it remains the volume leader in terms of capacity, the new Guide shows.

Global Group I capacity stands now at 502,000 b/d, and industry analysts expect it to continue to shrink despite an occasional refinery slate change or debottlenecking. Meanwhile, Group II capacity surged by 20 percent over the past year to 349,000 b/d, and Group III capacity climbed about 3.5 percent, to reach 117,000 b/d. Naphthenic capacity held steady, at just under 91,000 b/d.

Industry players are continually redrawing this picture, reminded Nancy DeMarco, publisher of LubesnGreases. Just a couple months ago, we reported that Shell will close its Group I refinery in Pernis, Netherlands, by early 2016, she said. And Nynas has big plans to change the product mix at the refinery it bought last year in Harburg, Germany, in favor of more naphthenics output.

Our 2014 Guide also lists more than a dozen upcoming projects that are due to come on stream between now and the end of 2015, she noted. A few of these are upgrades to existing plants, such as Heritage-Crystal Cleans rerefinery in Indianapolis and ExxonMobils refineries in Baytown, Texas, and in Singapore, but we also see a lot of new-builds aiming for a share of this business, such as Hyundai Oil Bank and Shells joint venture in South Korea, the SK-Repsol j.v. in Spain, and Adnocs new facility in the U.A.E.

In all, our wall chart shows that refiners plan to add well over 90,000 daily barrels of Group II and Group III in the next 18 months, DeMarco said.

The 10th edition of the Guide to Global Base Oil Refining was created by LubesnGreases Senior Editor Michele Persaud, in close cooperation with R. David Whitby of Pathmaster Marketing Ltd. in the U.K.

Additional copies of the guide may be purchased online at www.BaseStockGuides.com