Adrian Brown is away. His column will reappear in the April 23 edition of Lube Report EMEA.

Global lubricant demand - excluding marine oils - is expected to increase 0.5 percent to 36.6 million metric tons this year, according to a presentation given at the Uniti Mineral Oil Technology Forum held earlier this month in Stuttgart, Germany.

Saudi Aramco reached an agreement to purchase a 17 percent stake in South Korean oil refiner Hyundai Oilbank for 1.4 trillion won ($1.2 billion), the state-owned company announced yesterday. This is slightly smaller than the stake Aramco announced that it had agreed to take in late January.

Tatneft plans to open a 200,000 tons per year lubricants blending plant at its Taneco refinery site in Nizhnekamsk, Russia, according to the companys top officials.

Chevron established a second API Group II base oil hub in Africa through a distribution agreement with a Moroccan company, extending its coverage of the African market.