INTERVIEW Conversation with Interview with Des King, outgoing president of Chevron Oronite Wh d
What does the succession mean for Chevron Oronite? Is it just business as usual, or is there an opportunity to look afresh at the business to investigate potential new possibilities and new markets?
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Bruce Chinn (BC): For the most part, it’s business as usual. The Oronite business has been steadily growing over the past few years; performing well both financially and operationally. I like to focus on three critical areas of the business: providing exceptional reliability to the marketplace, delivering innovative technology and building enduring relationships.
Des King (DK): The success of the business today is because we stand on the shoulders of those that went before – it’s an evolution not a revolution. This is a long term business, and if you don’t adhere to those three core values, the business would not continue.
Chevron Oronite’s reputation in the marketplace as a leading additive company is second to none. Des, you have an impressive history – what do you feel was your biggest achievement during your time at Chevron Oronite since you joined four years ago?
DK: I started with Chevron back in 1981 as a researcher. I’ve always enjoyed technology and the nice thing about Oronite is it is a technology driven business. There are many things to be proud of – one that really sticks out is our success and growth in our automotive offering. We invested heavily in that over the last few years to develop leading products, and we’re really starting to see positive results in the marketplace.
We’re also particularly proud that in 2017, we were awarded the Product Development of the Year Award from Fuels and Lubes Asia for our Dexos1™ Gen 2 product. It’s nice to have that public recognition as well as success in the marketplace, and of course it’s a product that can help oil marketers meet that General Motors specification, which is designed for better
22 LUBE MAGAZINE NO.144 APRIL 2018
vehicle performance as well as Low Speed Pre Ignition (LSPI) protection, particularly for small displacement turbo charged engines.
Automotive additives are a particularly competitive area of the lubricants sector. Bruce, you have extensive experience coming into your new role. What do you think is the biggest challenge that Oronite faces?
BC: I think continuing the great growth journey that Oronite has established. Des and the team have injected significant capital into the business, have made some key upgrades to the business (including all of the world-class plants, which are run reliably and safely) and have introduced new technology, and we’ll continue to build on those areas that have proven successful in the marketplace.
My challenge now, really, is to keep that momentum moving forward.
In terms of that growth journey, is automotive at the heart of that strategy for Oronite?
BC: I think it is a key piece of it. Certainly we have great positions in many of our industrial engine oil and specialties oil product lines as well, and these are all really key in our business going forward.
At the end of last year, ACEA revised and republished the 2016 Automotive and Engine Oil Sequences. In Europe, ACEA sets the standard for engine oil specifications, just as in the US you would follow API and ILSAC. Engine oil additive formulations take a considerable amount of time to test and develop, so has this decision to republish these sequences had any effect on Oronite’s business in terms of engine tests, formulation or bench testing?
DK: Oronite has been in the additives business for over 100 years now, so we’re used to addressing specification changes and updates as they occur. Since
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