Petro-Canada would like to increase capacity at its Mississauga, Ontario, base oil plant and has budgeted funds in 2005 to evaluate alternatives for doing so. The company aims to decide during the coming year how to proceed.
No final decision has been made, and there will be no change in the plants capacity in 2005, a company source said. The plant, by far the largest in Canada, has capacity to make 12,500 barrels of API Group II and Group III base oils per day.
Petro-Canada announced Dec. 16 that it plans to spend Canadian $3.2 billion on capital investments andexplorationin 2005, up from $2.9 billion in the current year. Of that amount, $35 million is earmarked for the lubricants business, most of it for the lubricants plant, which includes base oil production and finished lubricant blending. Last weeks announcement said that debottlenecking the base oil plant is one of the companys priorities.
Posted prices for paraffinic base oils in the United States were unchanged again this week. The price of crude oil on the New York Mercantile Exchange closed yesterday at $45.72 per barrel, $3.86 higher than a week earlier.
Historic U.S. posted base oil prices and WTI and Brent crude spot prices are available for purchase in Excel format.