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The Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC) is indeed fortunate in selecting the theme of this year’s resea rch titled “Re-Refining of Used Lubricating Oils and its Economic & Environmental Implications". Used lubricating oils affect the environment adversely for the pollutants that they accumulate as a result of deterioration throughout the service life under the conditions of heat and friction. At the same time, used oils are still a hydrocarbon resource that should be conserved as much as practicable to lessen the needs for crude oil and its products. While the collection of used oil and its utilization for fuel or in re-refining industry in the Arab countries is small and limited to few countries, increasing interest is seen forthcoming and will pick up momentum once the governments make it a policy to support the industry by laws and regulations and financial compensation. The breakdown of the requested research as outlined in (OAPEC) announcement has been covered here with the variation that was found necessary to cover the intended purpose especially with respect to burning used oil for energy recovery and the relationship with virgin lubes supply and demand. It was found that the used oils question is not isolated and must be viewed in relation to the overall industry of lubricants and to fuel users as well. Chapter 1 deals with the history of lubrication and re-refining to see how the re-refining industry evolved from the consumption of virgin base oils and to take note of the similarity in processing steps of both. In chapter 2 the environmental impact and resource conservation of used oils disposition is discussed with respect to dumping, burning for energy recovery or processing for base oil production. Chapter 3 deals with virgin and used oil processing where virgin production steps are discussed briefly as an entrance to the main processing of used oils. Various processes are discussed in details to demonstrate their relevance to the modern requirements of lubricants. Processes to treat used oil for fuel purposes are also discussed. Chapter 4 deals with burning used oil for fuel and energy recovery, a great competitor to used oil re-refining. The quantities are discussed on regional basis to discover the trends and the potential for further re-refining of used oil. Chapter 5 deals with the economics of re-refining in discussing what affects this important aspect including supply and demand for lubricants, the impact of oil prices and the process selection and so on. An important economic model is also presented which can be used by others in further studies. Chapter 6 deals with the lubricating oil industry in the Arab countries including the production and consumption of lubricants. The re-refining plants and plans in the Arab countries are also discussed. It was difficult to obtain accurate data here as is the case in other world regions. Examples of countries experience are imbedded in the relevant chapters where the experience of Italy is included in chapter 5 and the experience of Saudi Arabia and the UAE is included in chapter 6. Conclusions and recommendations are cited in chapter 7 with special emphasis on what is to be done in Arab countries. Upfront, the executive summary is a condensation of the most important aspects of the report which also shows the direction followed in the research. Needless to say that the lack of expensive consultant’s reports made reliance on the Internet and public sources paramount. This is sometimes followed by discussion with private sources in the industry. I hope this research serves the purpose of OAPEC and that the Organization would go ahead to promote the collection, controlled utilization and processing of used oils for the benefit of the economy, environment and the wellbeing of the Arab people in their different countries.
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