F+L Webcast

The UK lubricant industry just won its first anti-dumping case — and the man who built the file spent three years gathering the evidence, often alone.In Episode 53 of F+L Webcast, host Vicky Villena-Denton speaks with Mark Lord, founder and Managing Director of Aztec Oils Ltd, about the three-year battle against unfair lubricant trade in the UK that ended in December 2025 with a landmark UK Trade Remedies Authority verdict: a 35% import duty on passenger car motor oil from the United Arab Emirates, and a 90% duty on imports from Lithuania.In this conversation:• How Aztec Oils grew from a 1995 kitchen-table conversation into a 25,000-tonne-a-year UK manufacturer • How Russian base oil rerouted through UAE and Lithuanian blending hubs into the UK after 2022 sanctions • Why one company alone took 15% of the UK PCMO market • How Mark Lord, Morris Lubricants and the UKLA built the case for the Trade Remedies Authority • Why Mark calls the December 2025 verdict "a skirmish, not the war" • Variable quality, REACH-non-compliant additives, and the limits of the VLS testing programme • Why the proliferation of OEM-designer lubricant specifications is making the market harder, not easier

What if the world’s next breakthrough in sustainable aviation fuel started with 14,000 cows on a Uruguayan dairy farm?In this episode of F+L Webcast, host Vicky Villena-Denton speaks with Trevor Best, CEO and co-founder of Syzygy Plasmonics — the company behind the world’s first light-driven chemical reactor and the first commercial production of SAF from biogas.Built on more than two decades of nanophotonics research from Rice University, Syzygy’s technology uses renewable electricity and photocatalysis to convert cattle manure into ASTM-compliant, ISCC-certified sustainable aviation fuel — trade-named NovaSAF™ — with 90% lower lifecycle carbon emissions than conventional jet fuel.Trevor walks us through the full story: a name inspired by a solar eclipse, four failed startups, 80 evaluated ideas before finding the one that refused to die, and a 4-step process that takes biogas all the way to synthetic paraffinic kerosene. He also breaks down why they chose Uruguay for NovaSAF-1, how a six-year binding offtake deal with Trafigura validates the technology, and the three-step roadmap to jet fuel price parity within a decade.First commercial fuel is targeted for early 2028. The clock is ticking. Subscribe and hit the bell so you never miss an episode. Sign up at fuelsandlubes.com#SustainableAviationFuel #SAF #CleanEnergy #Biogas #EnergyTransition #FuelsAndLubes #FLWebcast #SyzygyPlasmonics #NovaSAF

In Episode 51 of F+L Webcast, host Vicky Villena-Denton spoke with Darryl Purificati, senior technical advisor for OEM and automotive for Petro-Canada Lubricants, an HF Sinclair brand. With more than 30 years of experience in the energy sector, Purificati recently concluded a three-and-a-half-year term as chair of the American Petroleum Institute (API) Lubricants Group.Based in Washington, D.C., the API represents nearly 600 corporate members across the oil and natural gas industry. These members include producers, refiners, suppliers, pipeline operators, marine transporters, and service companies. The API Lubricants Group is responsible for the oversight of engine oil standards. This group operates as a consensus-based body, bringing together oil marketers, additive companies, and automotive manufacturers (OEMs) to coordinate technical requirements and performance specifications. The group's core mandate is to manage API 1509, which outlines the processes for the Engine Oil Licensing and Certification System (EOLCS). The chair of the API Lubricants Group must act as a negotiator between stakeholders with competing technical and commercial interests. These include automotive manufacturers (OEMs) seeking fuel efficiency, longer drain intervals, and engine durability; additive companies providing the technology; and oil marketers focused on production and distribution.Purificati emphasised the importance of API 1509. This document maintains performance standards for both light-duty passenger cars and heavy-duty engine oils.The Starburst symbol represents the International Lubricant Specification Advisory Committee (ILSAC) standards, while the Donut indicates the API viscosity grade and performance level. Beyond setting specifications, API manages the Aftermarket Audit Program (AMAP), which samples products in the global marketplace to ensure they deliver the performance promised on the label. Purificati’s leadership term began as the industry was navigating the introduction of ILSAC GF-6. During his tenure, he helped shepherd the industry through the transition to GF-7 and the initial development of GF-8.While GF-6 was a highly complex category involving numerous engine tests, GF-7 was fast-tracked to meet industry needs. Originally, the next major upgrade was targeted for 2028, but the industry opted to split the development timeline.GF-7 was released with a first licensing date of March 2025 as an upgrade to GF-6.GF-8 is currently in development and represents a more significant performance step forward, targeted for 2028.A major focus of Purificati’s chairmanship was PC-12, the 12th proposed category for heavy-duty engine oils. Developing a new category is a massive undertaking, often taking five to seven years and requiring substantial investment due to the complexity of heavy-duty engine tests.Purificati confirmed that the API Lubricants Group voted to ballot three critical items for PC-12 in Houston, Texas, U.S.A., in December 2025:User language: Ensuring the category description accurately represents the standard.Adoption of specification: Formal acceptance of the standard as drafted.First license date: The proposed first licensing date is January 1, 2027.Results of the ballot will be discussed at the next API Lubricants Group Meeting in February 2026 in San Antonio, Texas, U.S.A. Once approved and implemented, the working title PC-12 will be officially known in the market as API CL-4 and API FB-4. The primary technical difference between the two lies in their High Temperature High Shear (HTHS) viscosity, which determines the oil's film thickness and its fuel efficiency. CL-4 is designed to provide robust protection and durability for existing heavy-duty engines. Unlike CL-4, low HTHS oils like FB-4 are designed for newer engine architectures and may not be backward compatible with all older equipment.

Featuring Alessandro Orsini, PETRONAS Lubricants InternationalIn episode 50 of the F+L Webcast, Alessandro Orsini, the marketing guru of PETRONAS Lubricants International (PLI), shares his insights on building value and differentiation in today’s lubricants market.Understanding customer strategy is the starting point in understanding your role as a fluid partner, says PLI’s Group Marketing and Customer Excellence Leader. With more than 30 years of experience at ENI, Shell, and PLI, Orsini broke down PLI’s value chain as a global lubricants player that manages 3,000 stock keeping units (SKUs) in more than 100 countries. His explanation touched on how research, technology, blending, packaging, logistics, and customer engagement work together to create customer impressions in a single interaction. From Orsini’s perspective, customisation isn’t a marketing gimmick; it’s a business priority with strategic implications. He shared that in PLI, research and technology spending is fuelled by specific customer needs. Such commitment leads to research investment both globally and regionally: while PLI’s technological strength is most visible in its global research centre in Turin, Italy, supplier and customer dialogues are concentrated in regional research hubs around the globe. These research centres operate responsively, considering factors such as unique fuel compositions and mechanics’ preferences per market so that the company is enabled to localise innovation before products hit the shelves.A long-term commitment to putting the customer first has led to some of PLI’s most innovative breakthroughs. Orsini discusses a partnership with a top European truck manufacturer that needed to outperform competitors in fuel consumption reduction and sustainability. PLI worked closely with the manufacturer to co-develop its engines and PLI’s lubricants over the course of 10 years, resulting in the world’s first ultra-low viscosity (SAE 0W-16) engine oils for heavy-duty vehicles to date. The ultra-low viscosity oils, released under PETRONAS Urania, were groundbreaking. They guaranteed a 3% fuel savings compared to standard (SAE 5W-30) engine oils and showed significant improvements in CO₂ reduction. Pushing back against the view of lubricants as commodities, Orsini concluded, “Lubricants are not a commodity—given the right customer partners and the technological commitment, you can create something really distinctive that goes beyond the expected possibilities.” In the current economic climate, industrial and commercial customers aim to reduce the total cost of ownership and meet sustainability targets. Co-development of fluids is key to these goals.For consumer audiences, however, overcoming the pain associated with going for an oil change, and perception of lubricants as generic items demands more effort in customer engagement and communication. Greater need for engagement, shared Orsini, dictates PLI’s effort and care towards customers’ physical and virtual interactions with the brand. For B2C customers, PLI focuses on improving the oil change experience. PETRONAS-branded workshops provide clean, welcoming spaces and expert advice, addressing customer pain points and thereby building customer trust. On the digital front, PETRONAS Lubricants International’s LinkedIn account is filled with entry-level educational content about lubricants, automotive care, industrial vehicle care, and the brand’s own updates. The account has more than 530,000 followers, making it the top in its category. 

In Episode 49 of F+L Webcast, Vicky Villena-Denton sat down with Henry Liu, vice president for Asia Pacific at Lubrizol Corporation, to discuss the company’s latest white paper entitled "Envisioning Sustainable Growth for China’s Automotive Lubricants Industry." The paper explores how electrification, intelligence and connectivity are reshaping the automotive sector, and the implications for lubricants and additives.Liu, who joined Lubrizol in 2023 after nearly three decades in the energy and chemical sectors, brings deep international experience with companies such as Honeywell, Johnson Matthey and ICI. He explained that while he is relatively new to the lubricant industry, his background in energy and technology provides valuable perspective on the profound shifts now underway in China’s automotive landscape.China is driving forward with ambitious carbon neutrality goals, expanding electric vehicle infrastructure and setting stricter emissions policies. Unlike in Europe and the United States, where consumer resistance has slowed electrification, Chinese consumers are embracing the shift. Alternative fuels such as methanol and hydrogen are also gaining traction, supported by existing production capacity and government initiatives. These changes are pushing the lubricant industry away from general-purpose solutions towards “fit-for-purpose” products tailored to specific applications and energy systems.Liu emphasised the increasing importance of collaboration with OEMs, the rise of Chinese domestic standards and the growing need for regionalised product strategies. He also highlighted Lubrizol’s localisation strategy in China, where around 700 employees—500 focused on additives—are developing products and services to meet local requirements.Looking ahead, Liu sees significant opportunities for lubricant companies in adjacent markets, such as protective films and liquid cooling for data centres, and stressed the importance of innovation not just in technology, but also in business models. Sustainability, he said, must be practical, delivering both environmental and economic value: “We shouldn’t just wait for passive adaptation. The industry must take active leadership in this transition.”