Base oil producers head into 2015 with a fundamental change in their economics. Oil prices have fallen dramatically since they stood at a peak of $115/bbl in June last year, to languish around the $50/bbl mark today.
Effect on base oils Tumbling upstream prices for crude oil and vacuum gas oil (VGO) are setting the pace for base oil prices going into 2015 - with prices falling across the globe. In the US, plummeting base oil prices followed the dramatic drop in West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude, with refiners also losing ground on base oil feedstock VGO premiums.
In Europe, the plummeting crude oil prices have not contributed drastically to Group I refiners troubles, in light of the fact that the collapse has given them access to cheap feedstock vacuum gasoil. However, so rapid has the corresponding collapse been for base oil prices, and so quickly do buyers expect to see upstream losses reflected in base oil prices, that some refiners have begun to suffer.
This is particularly true of inland refineries that face higher transportation costs (and therefore narrower margins) and also longer lead times. With end users being acutely aware of the falling feedstock prices and the backdrop of generally weak market conditions, refiners are being forced to discount base oils that were produced from crude oil purchased earlier, at higher prices.
The second half of 2014 saw hefty falls in Group II spot prices, brought about primarily by slides in the upstream crude prices which coincided with the start-up period of new Group II facilities in both the US and northeast Asia.
The longer-term impacts on the base oils market are difficult to elucidate precisely. In the short term, base oil producers may even benefit from improved margins as base oil prices slide less quickly than crude. This price drop delay is more pronounced the further down the chain you go, so lubricant distribution players may find they have a more profitable time ahead for some time.
But then again, producers will be still be using feedstocks contracted for when well-head prices were higher, and this will take a month or so to work through the system. Costs are thus not falling as fast some would believe.
The oil-price driven price decline will be exacerbated by the oversupply in the global base oil markets. As per consultants 3m tons/year of capacity has been added to the market of late, at a time when demand growth is sluggish at best and largely flat. This added Group II and III capacity has left the market long by about 5m tons/year, which he warns will take some five years to rebalance, even with the capacity cuts that are being made, notably in Europe and Taiwan.
The real crunch, he says, will come when oil prices begin to recover - possibly to around $80-90/bbl within 6-8 months - when producers really will feel strong margin pressure. They will, he says, find it extremely hard to raise prices again given the oversupply. Group I producers will feel the pain the most.
Another expert points out the base oil price slide will not be as great as that for crude and will likely stimulate some demand growth - but not much. Lubricant markets, he notes, are very much driven by the need for lubrication, which is not price driven.
He does expect that the low oil price will accelerate the move to Group II and III systems at the expense of Group I base oils. Synthetics will also become more affordable and hence may capture
greater market share.
If prices remain low for an extended period of time, there will undoubtedly be structural impacts. The improved margin effect will disappear and refinery operations will suffer.
Oil price woes may be uppermost in base oil producers' minds at present, but the capacity overhang may well prove to be the bigger issue in the longer run.