Market Topics

Base Oil Price Report

January 30, 2002

U.S. base oil suppliers may be talking down the likelihood of further price reductions, but purchasers see hopes for more cuts, especially for lower-v ...

Valvolines first-quarter operating income increased 10 percent, to $11 million, parent company Ashland Inc. reported last week. Income from the Marath ...

Shifting from a tier-two to a tier-one supplier, Dow Chemical Co. announced a deal to become the direct and sole source of brake fluid for all of Gene ...

As president of an engineering firm that offers predictive maintenance services, Bill Marscher is a staunch proponent of condition monitoring. But he ...

Pennzoil-Quaker State Co. warned that it will declare a pre-tax charge of up to $20 million for the fourth quarter of 2001 due to the bankruptcy of Km ...

Base Oil Price Report

January 23, 2002

With one unusual exception, principal U.S. base oil suppliers lowered price postings during the past week, completing a third round of price cuts sinc ...

Continuing to build its defoamer business by acquisition, The Lubrizol Corp. announced last week that it has bought Kabo Unlimited Inc. The acquisitio ...

OSTFILDERN, Germany – Like their counterparts in North America and Europe, Japan’s lubricant companies are struggling with a mature, low-g ...

The American Petroleum Institute has agreed in principle with a proposal by automakers to modify the process for adopting engine oil quality upgrades. ...

Base Oil Price Report

January 16, 2002

ExxonMobil lowered its posted prices for base oils Monday, a move that is likely to trigger the third round of price cuts in the United States since m ...

Castrol has scored an OEM hat trick, reaching an agreement with Ford Motor Co. that makes it the factory-fill lubricant supplier for Jaguar Cars Ltd., ...

One U.S. lubricant industry backwater — aviation piston engine oils — seems long overdue for a shake up in both technology and marketing. ...

Signaling a possible rift between the leading motor oil marketer and the largest U.S. quick-lube chain, the Jiffy Lube Association of Franchisees said ...

Ashland Inc. announced Thursday that it has hired from within to find a new president for The Valvoline Co., selecting Samuel J. Mitchell Jr. The 40-y ...

New Sulfonates Plant Opens

January 9, 2002

Offering to relieve tight demand for an important ingredient in metalworking fluids and other lubricants, chemical broker Kimes Trading International ...

Amalie Oil Co. knows it lacks financial resources to imitate the buy-some-market-share strategy that some oil companies have followed to enter China. ...

Base Oil Price Report

January 3, 2002

The U.S. base oil market is dormant and likely to remain so for several weeks, but suppliers say the calm does not preclude chances for price movement ...

ExxonMobil Corp. has named Moses W. Dunning Americas base stock manager, replacing Erwin R. Erv Burbach, who moved to a new position. Dunning has bee ...

Southwest Research Institute is combining two previously announced initiatives in an attempt to attract companies to study how lubricating oils poison ...

Germanys lubricant market appears poised for a shake-up after Shell and RWE-DEA won partial approval for a German partnership, and Fuchs Petrolub anno ...