ExxonMobil’s French subsidiary Esso Societe Anonyme Francaise will start rerefining base oil at its Port Jerome facility in Gravenchon, northern France. The announcement came six months after the company decided to shut down chemicals production at the site.
ExxonMobil’s move is part of a trend of big oil companies making rerefining plays. Shell bought a controlling stake in Blue Tide Environmental, BP’s Castrol entered a supply agreement with Safety-Kleen and TotalEnergies acquired Finnish rerefiner Tecoil this year. ExxonMobil is the only one of the four to build its own rerefining unit.
According to an Exxon press release, production will start in the second half of 2025 once reconfiguration of the current production lines at Gravenchon is completed.
Feedstock will come from nearby rerefiner Eco Huile, which collects waste oil from workshops, local authority vehicles, machinery and agricultural equipment.
Eco Huile’s rerefined base oils constitute 10% of France’s recycled oil demand. It operates a rerefinery in Lillebonne, which has production capacity of 125,000 metric tons per year of API Group I. Another company, Osilube, has production capacity of 90,000 t/y of Group I at its plant in Gonfreville-l’Orcher, according to data gathered by Lubes’n’Greases.
The European Union, of which France is a founding member, issued Directive 2008/98/EC to mandate the collection and recycling of waste oil as a strategic resource. France is mid-table compared with other member states when it comes to collection and recycling rates.
“Promoting the regeneration of used lubricants instead of their incineration … will transform a waste product into a valuable resource, while offering a high-performance solution for the circular economy,” said Joel Picard, CEO of Eco Huile’s parent company Aurea Group.