Russian lubricant marketer Lukoilexpects to increase its share in the global marine oil market on the heels of increased sales and expansion of its supply volumes to several heavyweight shipping companies.
The company aims to capture 12 percent of the market this year, up from 10 percent in 2016, said Victor Zhuravskiy, head of Lukoils marine lubricants subdivision. The current pace of business growth will allow us to position ourselves as the fourth-largest marine oil supplier in the world, Zhuravskiy said in a recent news release.
Kline and Co. consultancy estimated that global marine oil demand stood at 2.3 million tons in 2016.
In the first half of 2017, Lukoil Marine Lubricants expanded its collaboration with a number of large shipping companies, including United Arab Shipping Co., Bahri Ship Management, Arab Maritime Petroleum Transport, as well as United Kingdom-based Lomar Shipping and Blystad Group and Japans Mitsui OSK Lines.
“The challenge that the marine lubricant market is currently facing is the increased prices of base oils and additives. Furthermore, the supply of [API] Group I base oil is limited, and the market reacts by moving towards Group II base oil,” Zhuravskiy said. “Group II base oil, however, requires additional additives to maintain the same asphaltene handling properties as Group I base oil and lubricant suppliers following this trend may have to reformulate their products.”
Lukoil Marine Lubricants, part of LLK International, Russian oil major Lukoils lube arm, is a global sales and marketing business focusing on the production and sales of marine lubricants worldwide. It was created in 2008 and markets its products to ship owners in more than 900 ports around the world.
Lukoil is the largest lube marketer in Russia.
Photo: ilfede/iStock
