JERSEY CITY, N.J. – Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. is likely to greenlight a Group II base oil plant to come onstream in 2013, with net additional capacity of 5,500 barrels per day, and an expansion of its naphthenics refinery in 2009 to add nearly 1,000 b/d. Both expansions are under final evalution, a company executive told an industry conference here, in his report on base oil supply and demand in Latin America.
In 2004, Correa Dias said, Latin America produced nearly 6 percent of the worlds total base oils, but 13 percent of its naphthenics. The regions finished lubricants market is about 3.3 million cubic meters annually, valued at U.S. $3.3 billion, about 8 percent of total world demand. Brazil is the biggest consumer, with finished lube demand of 1.2 million cubic meters per year. Mexico is second, at 840,000, Argentina a distant third at 286,000.
Automotive oils are the most significant product lines, Correa Dias said, with SAE 15W-40 and 20W-50 as the dominant grades, although monogrades are still widely sold. API SJ is the most widely used engine oil category in the region.
Turning to base oils, Correa Dias said there are six base oil refiners in the region, including four national oil companies (Petrobras, PdVSA, PEMEX and Colombias Ecopetrol) and two others, Shell and Repsol, with refineries in Argentina.
Correa Dias presented the regions base oil capacities by company, in barrels per day:
|
Paraffinic |
Naphthenic |
Total |
Percent |
|
| PdVSA |
11,000 |
13,350 |
24,350 |
44% |
| Petrobras |
14,940 |
1,080 |
16,020 |
29% |
| PEMEX |
6,000 |
|
6,000 |
11% |
| Repsol |
5,500 |
|
5,500 |
10% |
| Shell |
1,500 |
|
1,500 |
3% |
| Ecopetrol |
900 |
500 |
1,400 |
3% |
| Totals |
39,840 |
14,930 |
54,700 |
100% |
Most of Latin Americas base oil refineries are more than 30 years old, Correa Dias continued. The Petrobras naphthenic refinery in Fortaleza, Brazil, with a hydrotreater dating from the early 1990s, is the youngest. Base oil imports to Latin America come primarily from the United States and Europe; intra-region shipments are mainly from Venezuela, Brazil and Argentina.