Americas’ Feb base oils supply falls

Base oils supply in the Americas fell to a two-year low in February amid a drop in output among all the key producers in the region.

Total supply of less than 620,000t in February dropped by more than 130,000t from January, according to production data from major base oil-producing countries in the region.

The volume fell by 16pc from year-earlier levels to the lowest since February 2021.

Supply slumped at that time in early 2021 after unusually cold weather in the US damaged and forced the shutdown of a swathe of US refining capacity.

US base oils output fell in February this year because of plant maintenance work. But it remained well above the early-2021 levels.

Regional supply instead fell close to those levels because of a drop in base oils output in Brazil to a seven-month low and in Argentina to a four-month low.