API Grants ILMA’s Request for Emergency Provisional Licensing
The American Petroleum Institute formally announced today that it has activated Emergency Provisional Licensing (EPL) for EOLCS licensees under API 1509 Section 6.9. The trigger is the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. API determined that the base oil supply conditions meet the force majeure threshold required for EPL activation. ILMA had requested that API take this action.
What is an EPL?
An EPL permits an EOLCS licensee to substitute base oils or other components that are unavailable due to a force majeure — and to continue marketing those products bearing the API mark — for up to 90 days from an executed EPL Agreement. API may extend this period at its discretion.
How to Apply for an EPL
To obtain an EPL, an EOLCS licensee must:
- Complete and execute the EPL Agreement (attached to API’s announcement to all EOLCS licensees), including Attachment A (description of substitution), Attachment B (list of affected products by brand name, viscosity grade, and API Service Category), and Attachment C (tests to be run to verify performance).
- Email the completed EPL Agreement to eolcs@api.org.
- Submit through the EOLCS online application system a detailed description of the supply disruption event, steps taken to find alternative sources (including both raw materials and finished products), an estimated duration of the shortage, and all other supporting information required by API 1509. (Licensees may cite and attach API’s announcement to EOLCS licensees as evidence of the force majeure event.)
- Provide technical information satisfactory to API demonstrating that the substitute component will not adversely affect the claimed performance standards of the licensed product.
- Submit a revised product traceability code for all modified products.
- Complete all required testing and submit results to API within 180 days of the EPL Agreement signature date. Extensions may be requested due to circumstances beyond the licensee’s control.
The requirements for base oil interchange (BOI) and viscosity grade read-across (VGRA) as outlined in API 1509 Annexes E and F remain in effect, meaning that deviations can only be approved by API if the EOLCS licensee goes through the EPL process as outlined above.
What Happens After the 90-Day Period?
When the EPL term expires or API closes the EPL program, each licensee must either: (1) revert to the originally licensed formulation; or (2) obtain a standard license for a new formulation — which may incorporate the EPL substitution — provided all required testing has been successfully completed.
Important: ILMA Did Not Request Group II Substitution for Group III in “Synthetic” Products
An inaccurate characterization is circulating that ILMA requested API permit the substitution of Group II base oils for Group III base oils in products marketed as “synthetic.”
This is incorrect. ILMA made no such request. The API EPL program is a general supply-emergency mechanism available to all EOLCS licensees under pre-existing API 1509 protocols. ILMA did not seek, and API’s announcement does not authorize, any blanket substitution of Group II base oils for Group III base oils in products labeled or marketed as “synthetic.”
Each EOLCS licensee seeking an EPL remains individually responsible for ensuring that any substituted formulation satisfies all applicable API performance and labeling requirements for the service categories claimed.
