By Tim Sullivan
 
In a move likely to be followed by other marketers, ConocoPhillips Co. announced last week that most of its passenger car motor oil business will soon sail under a “synthetic blend” label.
 
At an Aug. 3 news conference, the Houston-based company said it will upgrade its mainline products as part of its switch to the new GF-4 passenger car motor oil specification. Officials said the upgrade will enable ConocoPhillips to offer performance that exceeds the new standard. 
 
ConocoPhillips is the first major oil company to announce a wholesale shift to synthetic blends, but observers predicted others will be able to make similar claims. Industry sources have described two general options for meeting the tougher performance standards set by GF-4. The first is to switch from API Group I base oils to Group II or Group II-plus. Alternatively, formulators can continue using Group I oils, but in smaller amounts, and introduce Group IIIs or polyalphaolefins as “correction fluids.” Observers predict each option will be used by some marketers.
 
Group III base oils are commonly marketed as synthetic, and some have suggested that Group II-plus base oils may be similarly labeled. There currently are no industry definitions of “synthetic” or “synthetic blends.”
 
ConocoPhillips has a stable of four PCMO brands – Kendall, 76, Phillips 66 and Conoco – and is upgrading all of them to synthetic blends as it adopts GF-4 formulations. It will begin selling blend versions of 5W-20 and 5W-30 grades by the middle of this month – less than three weeks after the American Petroleum Institute started commercial licensing of the standard. Next spring the company will introduce synthetic blend versions of 10W-30s.
 
ConocoPhillips officials declined to disclose the types of base oils used in the various products, but said it considers synthetic as including Group III stocks, PAOs and synthetic esters. It has a regular source of Group III through its marketing agreement with South Korean refiner S-Oil, and is part owner of Chevron Phillips Chemical Co., which supplies PAO. Without revealing specific content levels, Commercial Lubricants Manager Louis P. Burke said synthetics are the principal base stock in the company’s blend products.
 
The company said its new products exceed requirements of the new specification but will be priced comparably to other GF-4 products. The installer market constitutes ConocoPhillips’ primary sales channel, and officials said they plan a marketing campaign to pitch the value of its products to that audience.
 
“We’re excited to offer fast lubes, repair shops, tire stores and car dealers an opportunity to capitalize on this strategy, because it offers them a significant advantage in the marketplace and provides their customers peace of mind in a time of changing specifications,” said Scott McQueen, director of automotive lubricant products.
 
ConocoPhillips acknowledged that some of its competitors will meet the same definition of synthetic blend as they begin making GF-4 products. For the moment, though, it is pleased to be the only one touting the fact that it has done so.
 
“I think a lot of the market will follow us on this,” Burke said. “But we’re glad to be out in front on the issue.”