Page 3 - Fuels & Lubes International 2014 - Q2

3
FUELS & LUBES INTERNATIONAL Volume 20 Issue 2
Today, the lubricants
industry is no longer
the ugly stepchild.
It has come of age
and its epicenter
is in Asia.
Vicky Villena-Denton
Editor-in-Chief & Publisher
Editorial
When I interviewed Eric Holthusen, the new COO of Petronas Lubricants
International, in November, he made an observation that the lubricants business
was coming into its own, no longer just an appendage of the oil industry.
(Eric’s interview starts on page 38.)
I completely agree with Eric. Back in the ‘80s when I was assistant editor of
a lubricants magazine in Washington, D.C., which was owned at that time by an
oil publication, it was like working for an ugly stepchild although our operations
were profitable from day one. Upstream was, and still continues to be the
glamorous side of the oil industry and its profit center.
There’s been a recognition in recent years that although, volume-wise,
base oils and fully formulated lubricants made up less than 10% of the product
slate from a barrel of crude, margin-wise, its contribution to the bottom line could
no longer be ignored with the dawn of the new age of oil refining.
Today, the lubricants industry is no longer the ugly stepchild. It has come
of age and its epicenter is in Asia.
Coming of age