Market Topics

Base Oil Price Report

February 5, 2003

U.S. naphthenic suppliers have initiated their second round of price increases in a month, citing a scramble among purchasers since Shell Oil Products ...

The Lubrizol Corp. announced yesterday that earnings per share increased 20 percent in the fourth quarter of 2002 vs. the fourth quarter of 2001. Reve ...

Sunny Outlook for Synlubes

February 5, 2003

U.S. demand for synthetic lubricants and functional fluids — not including the hangdog category of antifreeze — will enjoy 7.2 percent ann ...

For the past two months, the global lubricant industry has felt the pinch of civil unrest in Venezuela. A strike that sidelined the national oil compa ...

Base Oil Price Report

January 29, 2003

Citgo lowered its posted price for bright stock by 5 cents per gallon today, completing a round of cuts for the paraffinic heavy that began two weeks ...

Valvolines operating income for the quarter ended Dec. 31 rose 36 percent from the same period a year earlier, thanks to higher sales volumes, particu ...

Shell Marine Headed Upriver

January 29, 2003

Shell Marine Products has announced plans to increase its presence in the United States, primarily by venturing inland. Officials declined to identify ...

Asia is rising and will surpass the West by the end of this century, Standard Chartered Banks chief economist for S.E. Asia, Steve Brice, told the Fue ...

Base Oil Price Report

January 22, 2003

Another week passed without price hikes in U.S. base oils, despite upslopingcrude oil costs and mixed signals on imports from South America and Asia. ...

Chinese Petroleum Corp. plans to build Taiwans second base oil refinery, though probably not for at least four years. An official with the island nati ...

Tensions from terrorist attacks were enough to delay Fuchs Petrolub AGs coming out party in Indonesia, but not to dampen enthusiasm about its prospect ...

Base Oil Price Report

January 15, 2003

Prices did indeed change in the U.S. base oil market this week, but not the way most people expected. ExxonMobil surprised buyers and sellers by lower ...

Lubrizol Picks Hambrick

January 15, 2003

Lubrizol Corp. last week elected board member James L. Hambrick president, succeeding William G. Bares who remains chairman and chief executive office ...

Shell Oil Products U.S. has agreed to pay $495,000 in fines to settle a federal case over violations of air pollution, water pollution and hazardous w ...

Base Oil Price Report

January 8, 2003

U.S. naphthenic suppliers welcomed 2003 with price hikes, and sources throughout the base oil market warned that coming weeks could be turbulent. Exis ...

Kaufman Holdings has consolidated Royal Lubricants Inc. under the name of sister company Anderol Inc. The synthetic lubricants and brands of both comp ...

An Elgin, Ill., parts cleaner services company filed a $400 million antitrust lawsuit Monday against Safety-Kleen Corp., alleging that the bankrupt ma ...

With an agreement that would write down its debt and restructure its ownership, Thai Lube Base Co. plans to reopen its base oil refinery in April or M ...

Base Oil Price Report

December 31, 2002

The U.S. base oil market remained quiet but watchful in the midst of the holiday season. Much of the industry has been on vacation for all or parts of ...

Nippon Oil Corp. is ramping up its motor oil business on opposite sides of the globe. Japans largest oil company announced late last month that it pla ...