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مجلة النفط والتعاون العربي
161
العدد
- 2017
أربعون
المجلد الثالث و ال
2016
أوابك العلمية لعام
�
ص لبحوث العلمية الفائزة بجائزة
�
عدد خا
92
82
Chapter 6 - The Lubricating Oil Industry in the Arab
Countries
Information about the lubricating oil industry in the Arab World is hard to come
by. It is often fragmented and not from direct and reliable sources. There are many
reasons for this but the most important is that there is no professional body or
association that can collect and report development on a timely basis as is the
case in Europe for instance. Even regional organizations such as the Organization
of the Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC) do not have information
regarding lubricants like they have for other petroleum sectors.
The following survey is the result of Internet research augmented by some
information obtained privately by contacting people in the industry.
The Virgin Base Oils Facilities:
Table (21) gives a brief summary of the base oil production facilities in the Arab
countries. Facilities under commissioning or very close to completion have been
included.
The base oil refining industry may have started in Egypt in the late 1930s or early
1940s followed by Iraq in 1957. But the expansion of the last few years is very
significant not only because it added or will add capacity but because of the
quality shift from Group I base oils to Groups II and III. This, by the passage of
time, will improve the quality of the finished lubricants and it is necessary to
make consumers aware of the new upgraded quality by education and by pricing
policy aimed at avoiding early oil change and thereby reducing the used oil
quantity and hazard at source. This is especially important because the region is
a low oil drain interval which is around 2000 to 3000 kilometers only
45
though
this behavior is slowly changing
as a result of following car manufacturer’s
instructions.
The virgin base oil producing Arab countries are destined to have a production
capacity of 3.128 million tons a year by the end of 2016. If Baiji plants in Iraq are
still not operative, capacity will be 2.878 million tons a year. But the more
important aspect is that the greater portion of this capacity is for the higher
performance groups II and III. This should reflect on the behavior of consumers
with respect to extending the drain period.