Chevron announces first 100% renewable base oil production

Chevron Products Company, a division of Chevron U.S.A. Inc., and Novvi LLC announced yesterday the first production of 100% renewable base oil from Novvi’s Deer Park, Houston, Texas, U.S.A., Facility.
“As part of our aim to find more reliable, affordable and ever-cleaner solutions that scale, Chevron remains committed to our investment in and technology development with Novvi LLC,” said Colleen Cervantes, Chevron Lubricants president. “This milestone reflects the focus in our partnership despite the recent pandemic-related downturn, and we are excited about the future.”

Chevron is an equity investor in Novvi LLC, a California-based company that engages in the development, production, marketing, and distribution of high-performance base oils from renewable sources. The agreement was announced in 2016.

This development is the latest in a series of Chevron announcements signaling its commitment to the energy transition and climate change focused on three areas: 1) lowering carbon intensity cost efficiently, 2) increasing renewables in support of its business, and 3) investing in the future targeting breakthrough technologies.

“Novvi is focused on delivering renewable solutions—essential chemicals and products for the industrial fluids and lubricants markets—without trade-offs in performance, price, or availability,” said Jeff Brown, Novvi president and CEO.

Chevron is a leading manufacturer of premium base oils and one of the world’s largest suppliers of finished lubricants. It has one of the world’s largest base oil manufacturing platforms through its own refining network and its base oil licensing technology position.

The Chevron-Novvi partnership leverages the complementary technologies of Chevron’s long-standing expertise in hydroprocessing, particularly ISODEWAXING, with Novvi’s innovative use of renewable feedstocks to produce and market high-performance, synthetic and renewable premium base oils.

Chevron markets ISODEWAXING technology worldwide through its joint venture partnership with Lummus Technology, Chevron Lummus Global, and has a long history of leadership in enabling premium base oils production for the lubricants industry since its invention in 1993.

The unique production process and molecules are expected to offer even higher performance than conventional and synthetic base oils, with the advantage of being produced from renewable feedstocks.

Novvi has developed renewable products through its technology platform that are also applicable in plastics, rubber, personal care, wax, and electric vehicle fluids. The invention and scale of this technology is designed to provide more choice to manufacturers aiming to improve performance and reduce the carbon intensity of their products.