Hyundai Oilbank Co., and Shell officially launched a base oil lubricant joint
venture Wednesday in a bid to help both companies expand their market presence
in Asia.
The new Hyundai and Shell Base Oil. Co., is expected to begin
commercial production in the second half of 2014, with daily output to reach
around 20,000 barrels.
Hyundai Oilbank, one of South Korea's leading
refiners, owns a 60 percent stake in the company while Shell, a global oil and
gas company controls the remaining 40 percent.
"A production facility
for base oil will be built at Hyundai's existing Daesan plant with the base oil
to be shipped to China and other Asian countries using Shell's extensive sales
networks," a press release said.
China is currently the largest
consumer of base oil products, which are mixed with various additives to make
lubricants for cars, ships and other industrial machinery.
Daesan is
located some 110 kilometers southwest of Seoul, with the base oil plant to be
built on a 33,000 square-meter site. Construction is expected to begin in
October.
Hyundai Oilbank said the joint venture marked the start of
the company's growth into a full-fledged energy company.
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