Pennzoil-Quaker State Company, a subsidiary of Shell plc (“Shell”), has acquired a 49% interest in Blue Tide Environmental LLC (“Blue Tide”), a company focused on building a global network of lubricant recycling facilities. Blue Tide is owned by Tailwater Capital LLC, a private equity firm that takes an integrated approach to investing in energy and environmental infrastructure solutions. 

Blue Tide is making progress on a 5,000 barrel per day plant in Baytown, TX, which Blue Tide will operate. The facility, which will process used lubricants into high-quality base oils and other co-products, such as gas oil and flux, is scheduled to start up in 2024. 

“Acquiring an interest in Blue Tide is a step in our journey to support a circular economy for lubricants,” said Machteld de Haan, Executive Vice President for Shell Lubricants. “We look forward to working closely with Blue Tide to evaluate opportunities for recycled lubricants as we continue to develop sustainable solutions to complement our existing range of products.”

“We are thrilled to collaborate with Shell to increase access to reliable and high performing recycled lubricants,” said Mark Bouldin, Chief Executive Officer of Blue Tide. “As we continue to make progress on the completion of our state-of-the-art facility, working with exceptional organizations like Shell and Tailwater will allow us to hit the ground running upon completion and position Blue Tide as the premier provider of sustainable, high-quality Group II+ base oils.”

“We share Shell’s optimism and vision for Blue Tide as the recycled lubricants space evolves and demand for Group II+ base oils continues to grow,” said Edward Herring, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Tailwater. “We look forward to continuing to support the entire Blue Tide team as they bring the state-of-the-art facility online and grow the business while promoting the circular economy.”

Shell and Blue Tide will look for further opportunities to work together to strengthen the circular economy for lubricants.