Chevron established a second API Group II base oil hub in Africa through a distribution agreement with a Moroccan company, extending its coverage of the African market.
Chevron Products Co., a subsidiary of Chevron U.S.A. Inc., sealed the deal with Societe Afriquia Lubrifiants (Salub), a subsidiary of the Casablanca, Morocco-based Akwa Group, the company announced on April 2. Under the agreement, Salub will distribute Chevrons full slate of Group II base oils to the Northern and Western African markets, along with its process oils.
The inventory of viscosity grades 100R, 220R and 600R will initially be stored at Akwas terminal in Mohammedia, Morocco.
We continually look at expanding our distribution capabilities in geographies where we see a growing appetite for Chevrons premium base oils, Chevron spokesperson Ray Fohr told Lube Report. Morocco is strategically well-located to meet the increasing needs for premium base oils not just in Morocco but also across wider North and Western Africa.
In a press release, Chevron claimed Salub is currently one of the largest importers and marketers of base oils in Morocco.
Chevrons Group II base oils can help customers optimize formulations that meet tightening European Automobile Manufacturers Association, American Petroleum Institute and original equipment manufacturer specifications, while reducing supply chain complexity, said Fohr.
This is Chevrons 16th global supply hub and its second Group II base oil hub in Africa, the first being established in Durban, South Africa, in 2014.
Chevron declined to disclose its base oil distribution volumes in Africa.
Africa accounted for about 6 percent of 36.4 million metric tons of global lubricant demand in 2018, according to a presentation by an official with Germany-based independent lubricant blender Fuchs Petrolub SE at the recent UNITI Mineral Oil Technology Congress in Stuttgart, Germany.