VBASE in Early 2026

Over the last several months, VBASE Oil Company met with formulators, equipment specialists, and industry partners across a series of events in Europe and North America. Each appearance served the same purpose: to build a deeper body of formulation knowledge around Secondary Polyol Ester® (SPE®) base oils and to put that data in front of the people who can apply it.

At the beginning of the year, Dr. Martin Greaves, CTO, presented “Functional Performance of Novel & Sustainable Secondary Polyol Ester® Technology for Hydraulic & Turbine Oils” at the 25th International Colloquium Tribology, hosted by Technische Akademie Esslingen (TAE) in Ostfildern, near Stuttgart, Germany.

In March, the season continued with a North American presence at Lubricant Expo in Detroit, Michigan, and CONEXPO-CON/AGG in Las Vegas, Nevada. Both events made room for direct conversations with formulators and equipment specialists about where SPE base oils fit into demanding hydraulic and industrial applications.

In April, the team turned to Europe. Dr. Martin Greaves, CTO, and Stephen Eck, COO, attended the European Lubricating Grease Institute (ELGI) Annual General Meeting in Rome, Italy, held April 11-14. As one of the principal gatherings for the grease sector, the meeting was an opportunity to connect with grease manufacturers and additive and equipment suppliers from across the industry.

The following week, VBASE took part in the UNITI Mineral Oil Technology Congress in Stuttgart, Germany, on April 21-22. Stephen Eck attended, and on Wednesday, April 22, Dr. Greaves delivered a presentation titled “Innovating with Secondary Polyol Ester® Base Oils. A Path to Higher Efficiency and Reliability of Industrial Lubricants.” The congress draws specialists from across the lube and fuel sectors, and the session set out the practical efficiency gains available to formulators working with SPE base oils.

Closing out April in North America, Asif Aleem, Senior Director of Sales, Americas, and Zach Hunt, Senior Applications Specialist, attended ILMA Engage in Bonita Springs, Florida, April 22-24. ILMA Engage is built around direct, relationship-driven meetings, which gave the team time to talk with independent lubricant manufacturers about formulating around SPE technology.

The spring also included an education touchpoint. Dr. Nathan Knotts, Senior Formulator and Innovation Scientist, presented an STLE webinar in April covering hydraulic system components and functions, fluid evaluation, and the common field failures formulators encounter, including why they occur and how to prevent them. Dr. Knotts spent 17 years at Chevron Lubricants before joining VBASE and currently chairs ASTM D02 Section N on Hydraulics.

VBASE closed the season at the STLE Annual Meeting in New Orleans, held May 17-21, with the team based at Booth #207 just inside the exhibit hall entrance. The week centered on formulation discussions and new performance data for SPE base oils. The team also presented twice. Asif Aleem spoke at the Commercial Marketing Forum on Monday, May 18, in a session titled “VBASE® Oil Company: Secondary Polyol Ester® Technology.” Later that day, Dr. Greaves presented “Enhancing Lubricant Functional Performance through Oxygen-Rich Synthetic Esters” in the technical session on Environmentally Friendly Fluids/Synthetic Lubricants II.

Across these events, VBASE continued to build and share data on how formulated products perform when they are designed around SPE base oils. That work reflects how the company approaches the market: developing practical formulation tools and putting them in front of the industry ahead of the point at which they are needed.

To continue a conversation from this spring or start a new one, reach out to the VBASE team or follow VBASE on LinkedIn. Technical data sheets and supporting performance data are available at vbaseoil.com.