The starting point for the production of lubricants and greases is the heavy residue taken from the bottom of the distillation tower which is then fed into a vacuum distillation unit to produce base-oil and waxes.

These products are usually processed in a dedicated blending plant which further treats the base products and includes further additives to give the end product the required properties. Blending plants may sometimes be integrated with a refinery but often are situated elsewhere but with good transport links for raw materials and finished products.

So called synthetic lubricants have become fairly common to meet the demanding technical requirements of modern internal combustion engines. These lubricants start with base oil components and then use further processes to change the molecular structure giving the lubricant specific properties.