Senior editor Michele Persaud, with LNGs editors and our collaborators at Pathmaster Marketing Ltd. in the U.K., estimate that global nameplate capacity on May 1 was 1,059,195 barrels per day.

The comparisons between todays data and 2005 are stunning. Group I accounted for 65 percent of total capacity in 2005; today its just 47 percent. Group II has surged from 16 percent in 2005 to 33 percent now, and Group III has likewise shot up from 5 percent to 11 percent. Naphthenic oils share of the global pie has narrowed slightly, from 11 percent in 2005 to todays 9 percent. Rerefined oils were not included in our 2005 tally, but we happily added them in 2007 and our latest Guide shows that high-quality rerefined base oil capacity now tops 40,000 b/d worldwide.

The base oil map has also shifted significantly since 2005. Back then, Europe accounted for 34 percent of global capacity. Now its just 21 percent. It wont be a surprise that Asia, with just 28 percent of global capacity in 2005, now accounts for a whopping 39 percent. The Americas share is unchanged at 31 percent, but most of that capacity is still in North America. Capacity in the Middle East and Africa rose from 7 percent of the global total in 2005 to 9 percent now, with Qatar and Bahrain producing almost all the growth.

The 2014 Guide lists 168 plants by owner, location and capacity. The chart of upcoming expansions identifies close to 90,000 b/d of new capacity slated to stream later this year through the end of 2015, all Group II and III.

To order copies of the 2014 Guide to Global Base Oil Refining, or to learn more about our other base stock guides, please visit www.BaseStockGuides.com.

Nancy J. DeMarco

nancy@LubesnGreases.com