Globally, North America ranks second behind Asia-Pacific in terms of overall finished lubricant demand, with the US accounting for over 84% of the total North America demand in 2014, followed by Canada, accounting for about 9% and Mexico, accounting for 7% of the total North America demand in 2014, according to research and consulting firm Kline & Company.

Kline estimated that the overall finished lubricants market in North America amounted to 2.7 billion gallons in 2014. said Sushmita Dutta, Kline's Energy Project Lead, as she hosted a webinar on July 15, sharing observations and market intelligence from Kline's recently published Opportunities in Lubricants: North American Market Analysis report.

North America is a large market for branded finished lubricants with industrial lubricants accounting for 46% of the approximately 2.75 billion total gallons.

Industrial lubricants accounted for 48 percent of total U.S. finished lubricants demand in 2014, consumer automotive lubricants for 28 percent and commercial automotive lubricants for 24 percent.

Demand for finished lubricants in North Amrica is forecast to grow at a CAGR of 0.3% over the forecast period. The U.S. market has remained essentially flat since 2012 Demand is expected to remain stable over the survey period.

“While lubricants demand in Canada is expected to remain flat, Mexico is expected to report moderate growth of 2 percent over the forecast period,” Dutta said. “Similar to the United States, Canada will reflect the trend of a slowly growing industrial sector and a shrinking consumer segment.”

“We expect the industrial segment to gain market share, while the consumer automotive segment shrinks over the forecast period,” said Dutta.

Process oil leads among industrial lubricants in demand while engine oil leads among automotive lubricants, both consumer and commercial, in 2014.

Kline found that major branded suppliers combined account for 44% of the total North America demand in 2014. Shell ranked first with approximately 350 million gallons in 2014, followed by ExxonMobil at approximately 275 million gallons and Chevron at more than 150 million gallons. BP, Phillips 66 and Valvoline followed, all in the area of 100 million gallons each with Suncor and Mexlub trailing at approximately 30 million gallons each.

Within the U.S. market, Shell led, supplying approximately 275 million gallons of finished lubricants, with ExxonMobil following at just under 200 million gallons. Chevron followed at approximately 150 million gallons. Phillips 66, BP and Valvoline followed, all at essentially 100 million gallons each.

Shell leads in the automotive segment, while ExxonMobil leads in the industrial segment in 2014, followed by Chevron and Phillips 66.

Shell led the consumer automotive segment in the US, followed by Valvoline, BP and ExxonMobil. In the commercial automotive lubricants segment, Shell is the leading supplier in the United States, accounting for 18% of total consumption in 2014, followed by Chevron, ExxonMobil and Phillips 66. Kline estimates the total to be 535.0 million gallons.

Consumption of commercial automotive lubes is analyzed in 9 major end-use segments plus an “Other On-highway” catch-all for all minor volume not covered elsewhere. Agriculture is the largest segment accounting for 27% of total volume. For hire trucking closely follows.

In the product category area, engine oil is the largest by far, accounting for 72% of overall consumption, followed by hydraulic tractor fluid, with gear oil and grease at significantly smaller shares.