ExxonMobil entered an agreement to have its lubricants toll blended in Morocco by Ola Energy, the latter company announced last month.
The companies already had an agreement for Ola to distribute Exxon’s Mobil-branded lubricants in the North African country.
Ola officials said the Mobil products will be blended at Ola’s factory in Casablanca, according to local news reports.
Ola originated as a Libyan oil company with ties to that country’s government and later operated as Tamoil with headquarters in Europe. The company was later renamed Libya Oil Holdings, which is registered in the Netherlands and has its operational headquarters in the United Arab Emirates.
Ola’s business is still almost entirely in Africa, where it operates in 17 countries, retailing fuels, lubricants and other petroleum products. In the past couple decades the company grew significantly through acquisition of Shell and ExxonMobil businesses in several of those countries.
The blending plant in Casablanca is one of eight that the company operates across the continent. News reports about the agreement with ExxonMobil said Ola officials touted the deal as a significant step in Morocco’s development as a finished lubricant manufacturing hub to supply Africa. They did not say if Ola will distribute Mobil lubricants to other nations.