Simon Johns

SIMON@LUBESNGREASES.COM

Managing Editor InSites - Simon Johns is the managing editor of Lubes'n'Greases’ InSites. He joined the company in September 2017, bringing a decade of publishing experience, most of which was spent heading an upstream-focused publication covering global oil and gas markets. Simon hails from the south of England but currently lives in Istanbul, where in his spare time he plays music and hosts a weekly radio program with his son.

Recent Articles

German Investors Snap Up LyondellBasell Plants in Europe

German Investors Snap Up LyondellBasell Plants in Europe

Chemical producer LyondellBasell is negotiating with German industrial investment group Aequita for the sale of four of …

Briefly Noted

Briefly Noted

Gulf Western Oil opened a new warehouse facility at its blending plant in St Marys, New South Wales, Australia. This inv …

Competition in Coolant Segment Heating Up

Competition in Coolant Segment Heating Up

A slew of lubricants, specialty chemicals and IT infrastructure companies have launched or announced upcoming developmen …

TRA Unable to Verify SCT Accounts

TRA Unable to Verify SCT Accounts

As part of its inquiry into lubricant dumping in the United Kingdom, the U.K.’s Trade Remedies Authority could not rec …

Briefly Noted

Briefly Noted

Perstorp, the Swedish specialty chemicals manufacturer owned by Petronas Chemicals Group Berhad, has launched a new port …

Tesla Punished by EU Car Buyers

Tesla Punished by EU Car Buyers

Europe’s electric vehicle segment is still gaining market share. That is, except for Tesla.

Zeller+Gmelin Opens Lube Plant in China

Zeller+Gmelin Opens Lube Plant in China

Zeller+Gmelin, a chemical company based in Germany, has opened a lubricant production facility in Huzhou, China, as part …

BP Begins Formal Sale of Castrol for $10 Billion

BP Begins Formal Sale of Castrol for $10 Billion

BP Plc launched the sale of its Castrol lubricants division, a potential U.S.$10 billion transaction.

Loopholes in EU Deforestation Law Threaten Esters Manufacturers

Loopholes in EU Deforestation Law Threaten Esters Manufacturers

Europe’s oleochemicals industry is urging lawmakers in Brussels to widen the scope of the European Union Deforestation …

Ethanolamines Plant in Nanjing Back on in May

Ethanolamines Plant in Nanjing Back on in May

Operations at the joint BASF-Sinopec ethanolamines plant in Nanjing are expected to resume at the end of May.

Fuchs’ New Brazil Plant Signals Latin America Push

Fuchs’ New Brazil Plant Signals Latin America Push

Fuchs Petrolub SE, the German lubricants manufacturer, is investing more than 220 million Brazilian real (U.S.$39 milli …

Zuber Issa Buys into UK Oil Brand Duckhams

Zuber Issa Buys into UK Oil Brand Duckhams

A supermarket magnate acquired a strategic equity stake in Duckhams, the 125-year-old British lubricants brand.

Provisional Tariffs on Imported UAE Lubes Unfair

Provisional Tariffs on Imported UAE Lubes Unfair

Lubricant exporters in the United Arab Emirates and U.K. importers of their goods face tariffs on their products more t …

Briefly Noted

Briefly Noted

From June 2, 2025, or when contracts permit, Dutch white oils and wax company Sonneborn will raise prices by& …

OQ Chemicals Rebrands as Oxea After Private Equity Takeover

OQ Chemicals Rebrands as Oxea After Private Equity Takeover

OQ Chemicals has changed its name back to Oxea, following its acquisition by two investment firms.

Phillips 66 Divesting Stake in European Business

Phillips 66 Divesting Stake in European Business

Phillips 66 announced it will relinquish a 65% stake in its fuel retail operations in Germany and Austria, part of a pus …

Intel Certifies Shell’s Immersion Cooling Fluid

Intel Certifies Shell’s Immersion Cooling Fluid

IT giant Intel Corp. certified Shell Lubricants’ immersion cooling fluids for use in data centers globally.

Podcast 31: Taking the PFAS out of Food-grade Lubes

Podcast 31: Taking the PFAS out of Food-grade Lubes

The term PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyls, constitutes a vast number of manmade substances found in countless product …