As Argentina’s largest integrated oil and gas company, YPF has a 100-year-old history working in petroleum products and lubricants not just across Argentina but also within its subsidiaries in Chile and Brazil and through distributors in Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia, Peru and Ecuador.
And when it comes to marine lubricants, YPF has a 20-year partnership and collaboration with Lubmarine to supply TotalEnergies’ range of leading marine lubrication solutions and providing support to both Lubmarine’s international customers lifting in Argentina and YPF’s local marine customers.
Here Diego Amat, YPF’s Lubricants Coordinator for Latin America discusses the benefits that the close working relationship with Lubmarine brings.
Can You Tell Us About the Areas of the Marine Industry you work with?
As we cover the major ports in Argentina we reflect the main areas of the marine industry, in particular -– fishing industry, container and bulk vessels, cruise, naval and smaller vessels.
Fishing is the main area of our business in Argentina. We have forged great relationships with our customers and are recognized as the main lubricant supplier for the fishing industry in our country, which mainly operates across the southern part of Argentina.
We deal with the big fishing companies mainly from Spain and China who have big fleets in Argentina – anything from 5 to 30 vessels. We also deal with small day boat owners who will normally have up to 3 boats operating.
We also work with the container ship sector which largely operates out of the key ports of Buenos Aires area and Zárate, which handle about 90% of the container vessel cargo coming into Argentina. The bulk vessels (mainly grains) operate in San Lorenzo, Ramallo, Bahía Blanca and Necochea.
The cruise industry is also a growing market for us, which mainly operates vessels out of Ushuaia (Tierra Del Fuego) to Antarctica and Chile and also from Buenos Aires to Uruguay and Brazil. To meet the new emissions regulations in place for the cruise sector, in collaboration with Lubmarine teams, we have been able to deliver a specific diesel engine lubricant as required by a cruise customer operating in Ushuaia which is about 3,000 km from our blending plant - a great logistics challenge.
In addition to that, we work with the Argentine Navy (including the ice breaker vessels which operate in Antarctica’s locations), Coast Guards and also cargo vessels that are purely based and operate within Argentina. So it is fair to say it is quite a diverse mix!
What are the Some of the Typical Challenges That You and Your Team Face?
Because we work with the fishing industry a lot, one of the biggest challenges is that you never know when a vessel is coming into port, but when they do, they want a quick turnaround to get back out to sea and they want any provisions such as lubricants – delivered to them before they set back off, which in some cases can literally be a few hours.
As a result, we are working 24/7 just like the industry we are serving. To support our customers supply needs we have developed warehousing in the main ports where they operate to ensure we have product ready for them when it is needed.
Our job is to evolve with the needs of the market.
In Terms of Working with the Lubmarine Team, Can You Highlight some of the Benefits?
One of the biggest benefits is that we have a great relationship with one of the largest marine lubricant networks in the world and the positive associations from working with the Lubmarine brand.
It is important for our customers to have a lubricant provider that delivers performance and quality and that achieves all of the OEM’s requirements.
Our customers cannot and do not want to take risks with their engines (as they are making money from them) so it is important for them that they have the support of YPF and Lubmarine as this gives them additional confidence.
Our in-house teams are highly knowledgeable and we also have the support of the Lubmarine team so it is a great mix.
We have our own laboratories for testing, R&D and performance tests, and it is the combination of commercial, technical and logistical knowledge and support that works for our customers.
In addition to providing our clients with Lubmarine products we can also work with any Lubmarine office in the world – so if they have a customer vessel coming into one of the Argentinian ports, we are on hand to supply them with the right lubricant at the right time.
We work with great confidence with the Lubmarine team - we receive great support whenever we need it.
This team approach is really invaluable and ensures that we can support each other. We have the strength of both companies working together to create solutions. This is one of the advantages of the Lubmarine approach.
Because of the type of industry we operate in, we need to be flexible and employ flexible thinking to find the right solution for our customers - both ours and Lubmarine's.
No matter the size or type of ship, our partnership with the Lubmarine network gives us the strength and possibility to supply any vessel with different products – reliable lubricants and reliable services – providing the know how of both companies.
In terms of the future, are there new areas you’re looking at?
Absolutely. As an example, we are looking at developing our infrastructure in wider ports to grow the business across all the Hidrovía ports from Buenos Aires to Paraguay and Bolivia.
The development of LNG and new marine fuels is changing and will no doubt change the delivery of new lubricants.
The shipping industry is changing rapidly with new fuels, which will impact lubrication strategies so we have to think what the market will look like in 10, 20, 30 years time and will work closely with Lubmarine to develop these solutions.
When You Are Not At Work What Do You Like To Do?
My wife and I have just started the most important and amazing adventure of our lives with the arrival of our first child in August, so currently most of our time is spent enjoying being a family.
I still enjoy playing rugby and since 2005, I organize an annual rugby tournament for the Buenos Aires Rugby Union, which involves around 25 teams and 700 players.
I also take some time to sail in a 32 feet sailboat and when possible (but not this winter given our new arrival) I like to go snowboarding.