In 2016, TopSail Energy, an environmental company whose original focus was on producing vacuum gas oil from reclaimed used motor oil, purchased 44 undeveloped acres in Baytown for its plant. The company’s plans shifted in July 2021 as Tailwater, a private equity firm that takes an integrated approach to investing in energy and environmental infrastructure solutions, announced the redesign of TopSail’s recycling plant and rebranded the business as Blue Tide Environmental, a used motor oil re-refining plant that will produce high quality Group II and Group II+ base oils, low-sulfur fuel, vacuum gas oil and flux.

In December of 2022, the Houston-based motor oil giant Pennzoil-Quaker State, a subsidiary of the Shell oil industry company, acquired a 49% interest in Blue Tide from Tailwater. [Pennzoil / Shell’s] aim was to continue to develop sustainable solutions to complement their existing range of products and to reduce their carbon footprint helping to create a world where society stops adding to the total amount of greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere.

We are becoming accustomed to recycling all sorts of things in our daily lives – from plastics to paper and electronics. We know that recycling helps reduce the emission of greenhouse gases, conserves natural resources and uses less energy, which are effective ways to relieve the negative impact on the planet.

But how much thought have you given to what happens to your vehicle’s oil after you have it changed? Of course, you want it to be recycled. We all have to do our part in saving the planet, right?

However, is recycling used motor oil actually the best thing to do? The simple definition of recycling is the process of converting waste into reusable material. But, in the lube oil industry, recycling might not be enough. Generally, recycled motor oil is transformed into a product that has a one-time, limited use – like fuel – which isn’t even suitable for use in automobiles.

It’s still a great idea to recycle that oil, but wouldn’t it be better if you could take that same used oil and convert it into a variety of products, one of which would be suitable for your automobile? And, what if this process was also good, if not better, for the planet than recycling? That process exists and is called re[1]refining, which is very different from recycling, as it leads to an equal or better product than the original base oil.

A 2020 Department of Energy report states that 1.4 billion gallons of used oil is available per year for collection, but only 21% is being re-refined.

Poised to take on the re-refining task is Baytown’s newest plant, Blue Tide Environmental.

Blue Tide’s facility, located at 6651 W. Bay Road, was redesigned from the previous vacuum gas oil plant to re-refining plant.