What Gem Oils does

Gem Oils Limited is an Irish family-owned lubricant blending and distribution company founded in 1962 in Regaskin, County Cavan, Ireland. It formulates and blends its own Gem-branded range of engine oils, hydraulic oils, gear oils, greases, antifreeze and coolants, brake fluids, transmission fluids, cutting fluids, and specialty industrial and food-grade lubricants at a 1,750 sq m purpose-built Cavan facility with 31 storage tanks holding over 700,000 litres — the largest lubricant storage capacity in Ireland. The company also distributes three premium international brands, Krytox, Molykote, and Tectyl, in the Republic of Ireland under a 2025 partnership with Antala, and is an approved reseller of Vickers Oils' food-grade range following a 2022 agreement.

Gem Oils sells B2B across agricultural, automotive, commercial, industrial, food & marine, and off-highway verticals throughout Ireland and Northern Ireland. Distribution is executed via a regionally-based field sales team of six Area Business Managers, a company-owned fleet of two 26-tonne Mercedes trucks, an e-commerce website, and value-added services including consignment stock, JIT delivery, on-site appraisals, tank telemetry, condition monitoring, and laboratory testing. Pricing is unit-based on a tiered product catalog with bulk and consignment options. The company has been ISO 9001 certified since 1989 and holds the current ISO 9001:2015 standard.

In August 2023 Gem Oils was acquired by Tricel Group, an Irish-headquartered global engineering conglomerate of 15 companies and 600+ employees, with Helen Milligan — third generation of the founding Milligan family — continuing as Managing Director. The combined business retains its Gem Oils identity, product portfolio, and customer base while gaining access to Tricel's distribution network, manufacturing scale, and cross-sell potential.

Name

Gem Oils

Legal name

Gem Oils Limited

Website

https://gemoils.ie

Company type

Private

Founded year

1962

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Gem Oils is an Irish family-owned lubricant blender and distributor founded in 1962, serving agricultural, automotive, commercial, industrial, and food & marine customers across Ireland with branded and distributed specialty lubricant brands, since August 2023 operating as part of Tricel Group.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Industrial Lubricants

NAICS

Petroleum Lubricating Oil and Grease Manufacturing (324191)

SIC

Wholesale-Petroleum & Petroleum Products (No Bulk Stations) (5172), Wholesale-Petroleum Bulk Stations & Terminals (5171)

akta.pro primary industry

Automotive Lubricants (PCMO, HDMO, ATF, Gear Oils, Coolants) (EUALAJAH)

akta.pro secondary industries

Industrial Lubricants (Hydraulics, Gear, Compressor, Turbine, Metalworking) (EUALAJAG), Retail & E-commerce Lubricants Sales (Auto Parts, Quick Lube, Online) (EUALAJAF)

Keywords

• Lubricating oils
• Industrial lubricants
• Engine oils
• Hydraulic fluids
• Specialty greases

Headquarters

HQ city

Regaskin, Co. Cavan

HQ country

Ireland

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Personnel, Supply Chain, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Revenue model

1. Lubricant Product Sales: Gem Oils generates revenue primarily through the sale of lubricating oils, greases, antifreeze, and specialty lubricants to agricultural, automotive, commercial, industrial, and marine customers across Ireland.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Gem Oils manufactures and distributes a comprehensive range of lubricating oils and related fluids, including engine oils, hydraulic oils, gear oils, greases, antifreeze/coolants, brake fluids, transmission fluids, agricultural lubricants, marine products, cutting fluids, and AdBlue. The company blends products in-house at its Cavan facility and also distributes premium specialty brands (Krytox, Molykote, Tectyl). It serves agricultural, automotive, commercial, industrial, food & marine, and off-highway sectors across Ireland.

Product overview

Gem Oils is a family-owned lubricant company established in 1962, operating as a single unified product portfolio focused on lubricating oils and related products. The company distributes its own Gem-branded lubricant line alongside three premium distributed brands: Krytox™ Performance Lubricants (high-performance fluorinated lubricants for aerospace, electronics, and industrial applications), Molykote® Smart Lubrication™ (specialty greases, pastes, anti-friction coatings, and dispersions for industrial, automotive, and energy sectors), and Tectyl™ Industrial Coatings (corrosion protection coatings). The core Gem product range spans engine oils (synthetic, semi-synthetic, and mineral-based in various viscosities), hydraulic oils, gear oils, antifreeze/coolants, brake fluids, greases, transmission fluids, agricultural oils (AgriPower series), compressor oils, chain oils, cutting fluids, marine products, food-grade lubricants, AdBlue, and specialty industrial products. The company also offers associated services including laboratory testing, condition monitoring, tank telemetry monitoring, consignment stock facilities, JIT delivery, on-site appraisals, and lubricant management systems. Gem Oils serves agricultural, automotive, commercial, food & marine, industrial, and off-highway sectors across Ireland.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Engine Oils

Quantifiable outcome

• Serving customers since 1962 - over 60 years of industry experience
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles6 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• AntalacoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 10 September 2025Gem Oils announced strategic partnership with Antala, a UK-based distributor of specialty chemicals and engineering solutions. Through this collaboration, Gem Oils became the preferred distributor of three globally recognized brands—Krytox™ Performance Lubricants, Molykote® Smart Lubrication™, and Tectyl™ Industrial Coatings—across the Republic of Ireland. This partnership significantly enhances Gem Oils' product portfolio for demanding industrial environments.
• Vickers OilsminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 4 November 2022Gem Oils announced collaboration with Vickers Oils, a UK-based family-owned supplier of high-performance specialty lubricants serving over 60 countries globally. Gem Oils became an approved reseller of Vickers Food Oils in Ireland, bringing their food-approved product range to the Irish market. Both companies share similar values as family-owned businesses with deep heritage.
• EnvaminorOthersGem Oils recommends Enva for collection and disposal of waste oil. Enva manages hazardous and non-hazardous waste including waste oil through their dedicated network of facilities and trusted partners.
• Killeshandra CoopminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorHistorical partnership with Killeshandra Cooperative that facilitated Gem Oils' expansion during the 1970s. The partnership enabled an order and deliver service which supported business planning, growth, and customer base expansion.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Fuchs Petrolub: Germany-headquartered independent lubricant manufacturer with a broad automotive, industrial and specialty lubricant range. Closely comparable to Gem Oils as an independent blender/distributor competing against multinational majors, though at substantially larger scale and global reach.
• Vickers Oils: UK family-owned specialty lubricant producer with a focus on food-grade and high-performance industrial oils. Directly comparable to Gem Oils as an existing distribution partner sharing the family-business heritage and food & marine lubricant offering.
• Morris Lubricants: UK-based independent lubricant blender founded 1869, producing automotive, commercial, industrial and agricultural lubricants. Highly comparable to Gem Oils as a long-established family/heritage-driven independent blender with in-house blending and B2B focus.
• Comma Oil & Chemicals: UK-headquartered automotive lubricant blender specializing in engine oils, transmission fluids and additives. Comparable as an independent blender focused on automotive lubricants with strong UK and Ireland distribution presence, overlapping Gem Oils' core product range.
• ROCOL: UK-based industrial lubricant and MRO consumables manufacturer owned by ITW, producing greases, pastes, cutting fluids and food-grade lubricants. Comparable to Gem Oils' industrial and food & marine segments with overlapping specialty lubricant lines.
• Millers Oils: UK independent lubricant manufacturer producing engine, gear, transmission and industrial oils plus greases and metalworking fluids. Comparable independent-blender business model with similar product breadth and B2B/retail split to Gem Oils.

Broad incumbents

• TotalEnergies Lubricants: Multinational lubricants arm of TotalEnergies serving automotive, industrial and marine customers globally. Competes with Gem Oils across multiple segments including automotive engine oils and industrial lubricants.
• Shell Lubricants: Global lubricants major and one of the largest lubricant suppliers worldwide, covering automotive, commercial, industrial and marine segments. Overlaps with nearly all of Gem Oils' product lines and competes in the Irish market.
• Castrol (BP): One of the world's largest automotive and industrial lubricant brands, part of BP. Overlaps substantially with Gem Oils' engine oil, transmission fluid and industrial lubricant portfolio across the same end markets, but operates at global scale with much deeper R&D and marketing budgets.

Regional players

• Antala: UK-based specialty chemicals and engineering solutions distributor that partnered with Gem Oils to distribute Krytox, Molykote and Tectyl in Ireland. Comparable as a regional specialty-lubricant distributor serving industrial customers across the UK and Ireland.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/Gem-Oils-226371014204443
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/gem-oils

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Gem Oils