Attending WAVE 2026

Middle East production disruptions creating bottleneck in global lubricant market

Company says immersion cooling pilots underway with multiple firms

SK Enmoove President Kim Won-gi. [Provided by SK]
SK Enmoove President Kim Won-gi. [Provided by SK]

SK Enmoove President Kim Won-gi said Friday it is difficult to predict how long the current lubricant supply shortage will last.

Kim made the remarks while speaking with reporters at the World Advanced Vision Exhibition 2026, known as WAVE 2026, held at the Ulsan Exhibition and Convention Center. "The recent bottleneck was caused by external variables such as the war in the Middle East," he said.

The global lubricant market has been experiencing a bottleneck due to production disruptions at Middle Eastern companies, pushing base oil prices sharply higher. Against that backdrop, SK Enmoove posted operating profit of 691.9 billion won ($517 million) in the second quarter of this year, up 504.3 billion won quarter-on-quarter. If supply shortages persist, the company is expected to post strong earnings again in the third quarter.

On immersion cooling — a key future growth business for SK Enmoove — Kim said the technology would eventually see wide adoption beyond data centers, including in energy storage systems (ESS). "Even if conditions are tough right now, immersion cooling fluid will be widely used across data centers and ESS alike when we factor in various market conditions," he said, adding that the company is currently running immersion cooling pilots with a range of companies.

Immersion cooling dissipates heat by submerging components in a special non-conductive fluid. It is more energy-efficient and less costly to run than conventional air cooling. The immersion cooling fluid that serves as the special medium is made from a lubricant base.

SK Enmoove entered the immersion cooling market in 2022 by taking an equity stake in GRC, a US immersion cooling specialist — making it the first domestic refiner to enter the space.

In 2024, SK Enmoove signed an MOU with SK Telecom and British liquid cooling solutions firm Isotope to collaborate on next-generation cooling and solutions. More recently, the company has been developing and piloting immersion cooling solutions with LG Electronics and GRC.


yeongdai@heraldcorp.com