Base Oils and Fuels: Navigating the Energy Transition
Our industry is continuously evolving. New technologies require the fuel and lubricant industries to continuously evolve. We will look at the new challenges presented by higher performance requirements in vehicles, in components of various machinery, in formulating lubricants and metalworking fluids. We will look at how these new requirements affect base stocks and the supply of different API base oil groups, from Group 1 to 5. There will be a special emphasis on the supply and uses of naphthenic oils, bright stocks and vegetable oils and their derivatives. There have been significant advances in providing sustainable vegetable oil products which will increase their use in high-performance applications. New innovations in lubricants will also be useful for the fuels industry which is also evolving with the new demands for sustainability and carbon footprint reduction. The global adoption of new developments also depends on the special needs of local economies, raw material supplies and existing infrastructure. Stable markets depend on strong regional supplies to build an interactive global economy. Some new developments in this area will also be discussed.
