The United States lubricant industry seemed to largely dodge a major scare as facilities along the Gulf of Mexico coast appeared to have avoided serious damage after Hurricane Ida barreled ashore Sunday. Stolt-Nielsen did state today that its Stolthaven terminal in New Orleans – a key distribution point for API Group III imports to the U.S. – was closed and that the company had declared force majeure for the facility.

Several automakers formally requested that the American Petroleum Institute’s Lubricants Group develop a supplement to the API SP specification to include an aged oil test for protection against low-speed pre-ignition in turbocharged gasoline direct injection engines.

Rising electric vehicle sales and global carbon-neutrality initiatives are helping drive demand for use of tall oil fatty acid derivatives in the lubricants market, a tall oil fatty acid supplier executive said during an online webinar.