These are higher-value products than conventional solvent-refined mineral oil stocks. As man-made chemicals, they are created to offer specific performance enhancements, such as greater oxidative stability, extreme temperature capabilities, and biodegradability. And as products of the world’s chemical stream, they are sold by the pound, not the gallon — another clue to their high value.

The guide demonstrates that the leaders in these products, by and large, are not the same companies that rank as conventional base oil leaders. Chemical companies such as Dow, Cognis, Ineos and Croda dominate the list, with many of them crossing into more than one category. Only in the Group III segment will you spot well-known oil refiners such as Chevron, ExxonMobil, Petronas, S-Oil and SK.

The guide is useful for tracking ownership and capacity changes, or to discern market leaders. For example, one product shown in the guide, polyisobutene, has a number of uses in lubricants: as a heavyweight base stock, as a thickener, and as a precursor to many additives. Ineos remains the world’s top PIB producer, with a total of 190,000 metric tons of capacity at its plants in Whiting, Ind., and Lavera, France. Second-largest producer is Infineum, with plants in Bayway, N.J., and Koln, Germany, plus a joint venture operation in China.

Texas Petrochemicals Corp., however, is the current newsmaker in PIB. The merchant market player completed a major expansion in October 2008, and began marketing the new production earlier this year. The Houston plant’s capacity was nearly doubled to a current 117,500 t/y, the 2009 Guide shows.

Here are just a few more perspectives that can be gleaned from the new edition of the guide:

• Esters are the largest category shown by the updated guide, with 52 plants mapped around the world. Among the leaders here, by number of plants operated, are Chemtura, Cognis, Croda and Diester Industrie (the former Oleon operation), the 2009 Guide indicates.

• Only 23 plants worldwide make silicone fluids for use as lubricants, and sources estimate that less than 1 percent of global silicone production is targeted to lubricants. Dow Corning is the world leader here.

• An even smaller fraternity makes phosphate esters — just 11 companies at a total of 15 locations.

• Nameplate capacity for making polyalphaolefin saw few changes, until the final quarter of 2008 when Finland’s Neste added 20 percent more PAO capacity in Beringen, Belgium.

• The ranks of polyalkylene glycol producers shifted, as Optimol took over the operation of Dow Chemical’s Kerteh, Malaysia, plant.

• After a flurry of expansions in 2007/08, Group III production saw only a small boost in the past 12 months. That was the launch of Rafineria ulja Modrica’s new plant in Bosnia & Herzegovina.

All data for the 2009 Guide to Unconventional Base Stocks was researched by Lubes’n’Greases‘ editors in close cooperation with Pathmaster Marketing Ltd., in Woking, U.K.

Subscribers to the print edition of Lubes’n’Greases magazine will receive the 2009 Guide to Unconventional Base Stocks with their September issue. Others may order a copy (and the companion Guide to Global Base Oil Refining) by visiting http://www.LNGpublishing.com/BaseStockGuide/index.cfm.