Shell lubricants subsidiary, Pennzoil-Quaker State Company, in partnership with North American re-refining specialist Blue Tide, recently announced the completion of its world-scale facility based in Baytown, Texas.
Commenting on the major achievement, SVP for Shell Lubricants America and CEO for the Pennzoil-Quaker State Company, Ade Ajala, said:
“Completing the Baytown Facility is a significant milestone. We’re proud of this collaboration with Blue Tide, leveraging innovative technology to transform re-refined base oils into sustainable solutions that complement our existing range of high-quality products and place us at the forefront of tomorrow’s lubricants and fluids.”
Shell Lubricants has one of the widest product ranges in the industry today and delivers synthetic oil, cutting fluid, gear oil, grease, coolant and hydraulic oil, among many other lubrication types.
The now fully operational facility in Texas features one of the re-refining industry’s largest hydrotreaters. The equipment lets Blue Tide produce and then sell high-quality base oils in the Group II plus category. These are base oils that have over 90 per cent saturates, a viscosity index of between 80 and 120 or more and contain 0.03 per cent sulphur or less. However, the new processing facility can also supply high performance base oils that have a far lower carbon footprint than traditional Group II plus base oils.
The site has a 5,000 barrels a day processing capacity, with conversion to high-quality base oils, asphalt and gas oil modifiers and other products. The inclusion of the hydrotreater improves quality and efficiency by decreasing impurities and enhancing performance levels of the re-refined base oils.
