Kumar estimated that Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. has a market share of 25 percent in UAE, followed by Emirates Petroleum Product Co. (19 percent); Total (14 percent); Emirates Lubricant Co., ExxonMobil and Shell with 11 percent each; Emarat with 3.5 percent; and all others dividing the remaining 5.5 percent. The UAE lubricant market is 35 percent heavy duty engine oil, 30 percent passenger car engine oil and 4 percent transmission fluids, with hydraulics and specialties making up the rest.

UAE has 1.25 million t/y of lubricant blending capacity, the highest of any country in the Middle East, and blenders there produce about 175,000 t/y of marine oils, some 7 percent of global marine oil volumes. Nearly 80 percent of this production is for export, Kumar noted.

Kumar predicted that UAEs local lube market, excluding marine oils and exports, will grow to 173,000 t/y by 2018. UAE is a favorable destination to do lube business, he concluded. Perhaps, he speculated, UAE will host a Lube Park similar to Singapores by 2015 or 2020.

Shell to Boost Lubes in Russia

Shell expects to double its lubricants production in Russia in 2014 and to start exporting to Belarus, Ukraine and other neighboring countries, the company said. Shell expected to produce around 40 million liters of finished products at its plant in Torzhok, Russia, by the end of 2013. The plant produces 26 types of finished lubricants and is one of the Shells biggest production facilities worldwide.

Next year we are planning a significant increase of lubricants production, or almost two times more than what we produced in 2013, said Oleg Deriy, Shells operations manager for Central and East Europe. While the company plans to ship lubricants to Ukraine, Belarus and other countries, Shell does not think it would be profitable to export products made at Torzhok to Western Europe.