Total opens new technical centre in Mumbai

Total S.A., the world’s fifth largest oil and gas company, has opened a new Technical Centre for Asia Pacific (TCAP) in Mumbai, India. The 600 square meter facility will have state-of-the-art equipment to focus on four main business lines: lubricants, bitumen, fuel additives and special fluids. Besides developing products for future transmission technology, TCAP will also have pilot labs for Asian products and be equipped to test base oils and additives to meet Asian requirements, such as the development of two new lubricants formulated especially for the region.
With sales of two-wheeler vehicles such as motorcycles rising 14% in the year till March to more than 13 million in India alone, TCAP has been working on developing fuel economy oils for the growing Asian market. One of these is a motorcycle lubricant that not only could withstand the high revolutions per minute (RPM) of the engines, but also handle the wear protection of the gearbox. The other is a rust preventive lubricant for metal that Total is aiming to launch in Asia.
“The Asia-Pacific market for Total’s lubricants is as strong as a third of the company’s volumes are sold in this region,” said Francois Dehodencq, senior vice president of Total Supply & Marketing Asia Pacific. ”By responding to the specific demands from rapidly developing Asian markets especially India and China, TCAP brings us closer to our customers and enables our affiliates to provide value-added support to their needs.”