Shell noted the Middle East hub is on an industrial site in Jebel Ali, about 30 kilometers from Dubai, geographically centered in the region and close to markets with growing demand for finished lubricants. The site is connected with a jetty and road gantry allowing deliveries to arrive from Qatar for distribution to Shells network of lubricant blending plants in the region. Currently we carry 4 CentiStoke and 8 cSt at the hub, a Shell spokesperson told Lube Report. This can potentially be extended to include our 3 cSt product as well.

Shell will mostly use the GTL base oil from the Middle East hub in its own lubricants supply chain, the spokesperson noted, but may also deliver our product from the hub to third parties, depending on our contracts.

According to the company, the U.A.E. hubs base oil will be used in Shell Helix Ultra with PurePlus Technology passenger car motor oils, Shell Risella X process oils and Shell Diala X transformer oil for customers in the Middle East and in certain other markets such as Egypt, India, Pakistan and South Africa.

Shell is the only company with a reliable supply of GTL base oil, Dennis Cheong, Shell vice president of supply chain, said in a news release. This new hub accomplishes the full global integration of our transportation and storage of GTL base oil.

The base oil is produced at the Pearl GTL plant in Ras Laffan, Qatar, a partnership between Qatar Petroleum and Shell. The plant has 28,000 barrels per day of total base oil production capacity.

Shells motor oils made from GTL base oil are now offered in more than 95 markets globally, including in the Middle East.