Adrian Brown is away. His column will reappear in the Dec. 4 edition of Lube Report Americas.

With the IMO 2020 regulation on marine fuels scheduled to take effect in just over a month, vessel operators and ports are still preparing for compliance. Industry insiders say some shipping will require more time to conform to the new requirements. Analysts also predict fallout for the base oil market, saying the regulation will probably force some plants to close.

The Securities and Exchange Commission on Nov. 25 charged Calumet Specialty Products Partners L.P. with posting an inaccurate and misleading earnings release in 2017. Without admitting or denying the findings, Calumet consented to entry of the SECs order and agreed to pay a fine of $250,000 as part of a resolution to the investigation.

Canada-based distributor Parkland Fuel Corp. reported 95 million Canadian dollars (U.S. $71.4 million) in revenue for its lubricants segment for the three months ending Sept. 30 - boosted by revenue from distributor acquisitions last year and this year - up 102 percent from CA$47 million in 2018s third quarter.