Argentina’s national oil company YPF increased further its share of the country’s lube market in June amid rising sales of automobile lubricants.

Shell remained Argentina’s second-largest lubricant supplier as it too boosted its share of the country’s lube market.

YPF increased its share of Argentina’s lube sales in June to more than 45pc of the total volume. The share was up from less than 41pc in May and the highest this year, government data showed.

YPF’s higher sales of automobile lubricants boosted its share of that market segment to almost 42pc of the total, from less than 39pc in May.

Argentina’s lube consumption growth has been mixed in recent months, with demand falling in June.

Shell’s share of the lube market rose above the 30pc level in June for the first time this year. The share was up from less than 26pc in May.

Shell and YPF’s combined share of more than 75pc of domestic lube sales in June was higher than more typical levels of around 67pc. Even the more typical levels for the top two lube suppliers were high compared with countries like Brazil.

The top two lube suppliers in Brazil accounted for less than 50pc of the country’s total lube demand in June.

Pan American Energy was Argentina’s third-largest lube supplier in June with a share of more than 9pc of total consumption.

Petronas Lubricants Argentina was the fourth-largest supplier as it boosted its market share to more than 7pc of total sales.