Total has started up its largest state-of-the-art lubricants oil blending plant in the world, located in Singapore, the company confirmed on Monday.

With an annual production capacity of 310,000 metric tons , this new major hub will boost Total’s lubricant supply in the Asia-Pacific region, which already represents more than 25% of Total’s lubricants sales.

“Our new Singapore lubricants hub illustrates our strategy to grow the marketing and services segment while maintaining a high profitability and contributing strongly to the group’s financial performance," said Philippe Boisseau, president of marketing and services at Total and a member of the company's executive committee. 

"It will allow us to expand our position as one of the top global players in this high return business segment," he added. "Total aims to leverage its partnerships to outpace market growth in Asia, which is a key region for future energy demand."

Total says it intends to double its Asian sales, with production from the new plant accounting for a majority of the accelerated growth. The new facility will produce the highest quality lubricant oils and supply a wide range of segments in the Asia Pacific region, including automotives (two wheelers and cars), industrials and marine.

With a population of more than 4 billion, Asian demand for lubricants is expected to grow by 18% and reach 20 million tons by 2025, almost the half of the world’s global demand.