Chevron to produce Group II+, Group III base oils

 Chevron will upgrade the quality of its Group II light- and mid-viscosity base oils to Group II+ at its Richmond, California and Pascagoula, Mississippi, refineries.

Chevron will also start producing Group III base oils at its 250,000 b/d Richmond refinery.

Chevron has signed an agreement with Finnish refiner Neste to produce its branded Group III base oils at the Richmond facility. The agreement takes effect 1 July. Chevron will start producing Neste's Nexbase Group III base oils early in the third quarter of this year.

The Group III produced at the Richmond refinery will be integrated into Neste's Nexbase slate and will qualify for Nexbase engine oils and driveline approvals. Neste will be the sole distributor and marketer of all the Group III base oils produced at the Richmond refinery. Neste said it will be able to scale the Group III production capacity at Richmond.

Chevron will continue to independently market its Group II and Group II+ base oils. It will upgrade its Group II N100 and N220 to have lower NOACK volatility and better cold-flow properties. The company will begin production of the Group II+ grades at both of its US base oils refineries in the second-half of the year.

Chevron will produce the higher-quality Group II+ and Group III base oils with its existing technology. It will not need to use supplemental feedstocks.

Chevron currently produces 20,700 b/d of Group II base oils at the Richmond facility. It also produces 23,500 b/d of Group II base oils at its 333,000 b/d Pascagoula refinery.

Neste operates a 5,100 b/d Group III plant at its 197,000 b/d refinery in Porvoo, Finland. It also markets under the Nexbase slate 45pc of the 8,200 b/d Group III production at Bahrain's state-owned Bapco's 262,000 b/d Sitra refinery. The remaining 55pc is marketed by Bapco and is sold under the Bapbase brand which has fewer approvals.

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