Making engine oils

Challenges: To meet the global challenge of reducing CO₂ emissions, today’s engine oils are evolving to be lower in viscosity, which can improve overall fuel efficiency. Despite the trend toward smaller engines and harsher engine environments, these engine oils must still deliver better performance and improved wear protection. Whether you’re formulating engine oils for passenger or commercial vehicles, the market demands longer drain intervals to provide sustainability benefits and customer value.

How we can help: Engine oil formulators rely on our advanced synthetic base stocks to meet today’s challenges. Compared to mineral oils, synthetic base stocks in automotive lubricants are designed to provide:

• Excellent low-temperature properties
• Lower volatility
• Better thermal, oxidative and shear stability
• Improved lubricity

To meet the growing demand for engine oils with better low-temperature properties, low volatility, and improved thermal and oxidative stability, formulators use our low-viscosity SpectraSyn™ polyalphaolefin (PAO) base stocks to boost performance of mineral oil formulations.

To help give your lubricants a competitive edge in today’s market and in the future, we continue to innovate with unique step-out base stocks that enable improved fuel efficiency, including low-viscosity, low-volatility PAOs and esters with excellent oxidative stability. These base stocks are designed for 0W engine oils.

Today’s engine oil market revolves mainly around one goal – sustainability. Lowering CO2 emissions to meet stricter regulations requires oils that enhance fuel economy and last longer. Today’s engine oil manufacturers must innovate to meet this need for energy efficiency.

To enhance fuel economy, thereby lowering emissions, engine oil formulators are moving to lower viscosities. While 5W-30 is still the most popular grade, 0W-20 grade oils are quickly gaining acceptance around the world, and OEMs are testing even lower viscosities. The challenge is ensuring these low-viscosity oils can maintain protection. Our synthetic base stocks help solve this challenge through high viscosity index, which helps enhance both wear protection and energy efficiency.