API engine oil licensees reach all-time high

AUSTIN, Texas—Kevin Ferrick, American Petroleum Institute (API) program manager, reported that API’s Engine Oil Licensing and Certification System (EOLCS) has reached an all-time high of 721 licensees.

EOLCS is a voluntary licensing and certification program that authorizes engine oil marketers who meet specific requirements to use the API Engine Oil Quality Marks. Launched in 1993, API’s Engine Oil Program is a cooperative effort between the oil and additive industries and vehicle and engine manufacturers Ford, General Motors, and Chrysler and those represented by the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association (JAMA) and the Engine Manufacturers Association (EMA).

Performance requirements and test methods are established by vehicle and engine manufacturers and technical societies and trade associations.

“Since the online system, we keep adding licensees,” Ferrick told ASTM Subcommittee D02.B on Automotive Lubricants which met here on Dec. 9. This means that “we also have to do more testing, especially overseas,” he said.

About 48% or 346 licensees are based in North America, while the remaining 52% or 375 are spread among 61 countries. These licensees market more than 14,000 engine oil products.