A fire broke out last week at ExxonMobils refinery in Port Jerome, France, curtailing production of some grades of base oil. Outside sources said the accident led the company to impose sales allocations – yet another blow for European lube blenders.
ExxonMobil confirmed Friday that the fire occurred Feb. 6 in a vacuum pipestill. Spokeswoman Barbara E. Leatherwood-Gomez said the company was still working to determine the extent of damage and to set a schedule for conducting repairs and returning to normal operations.
ExxonMobil did not specify which grades of base oil were affected, but European sources said the company circulated letters Friday imposing allocations in the range of 80 percent on Group I 100 and 150 solvent neutrals. Those sources said ExxonMobil did not indicate how long it expected the caps to remain in place.
Blenders and market observers said the incident is especially problematic coming on the heels of a spate of other disruptions in Europes base oil market. In recent months the industry has had to grapple with strikes at Totals refinery in Gonfreville, France, the permanent closure of a Shell plant in Hamburg, Germany, and a BP plant in Coryton, U.K., and a fire at Nynas naphthenic plant in Nynashamn, Sweden.
When you add all these things up, the market is quite short and compounders are having a difficult time, said Rod Parker, executive director of the United Kingdom Lubricants Association. The last thing they needed was a fire at another refinery.
The UKLA has scheduled a conference on the supply situation for March 28 in Derby, U.K.