Volume 4 Issue 8
Luberef Touts Plan for Lubes Hub
February 23, 2021Luberef launched an initiative to encourage lubricant blenders to locate at a site adjacent to its base oil plant in Yanbu’ al Bahr, Saudi Arabia, the company’s top executive told attendees of the ICIS World Base Oils & Lubricants Live virtual conference on Feb. 16. The company wants to secure a reliable outlet for its products while localizing more production of imported products.
Belarus Alters Route for Base Oil Exports
February 23, 2021Belarus has decided effectively to bypass Latvia and Lithuania as its main reloading ports for petrochemical exports, including base oils and lubricants, and send them to foreign markets from Russian ports instead. The transport ministries of Belarus and Russia signed an agreement last week under which westbound petrochemical exports from the former country are to be reloaded primarily through the settlement of Ust-Luga, Russia’s westernmost Baltic port.
German Group: Don't Eliminate ICEs Yet
February 23, 2021The Mechanical Engineering Industry Association in Germany last week urged the European Commission to change course on the development of Euro 7, arguing that the current direction for the region’s next automobile emissions standard could hurt the environment as well as the economy. For the current decade governments should encourage use of alternative fuels that could greatly reduce emissions from internal combustion engines, the group said.
From Other Editions of Lube Report
February 23, 2021SK Eyes Funds from Lubes Business
Briefly Noted
February 23, 2021Ludwigshafen, Germany-based BASF announced on Feb. 18 that effective immediately, or as existing contracts permit, it will increase prices for its lubricant oil additives and base stocks globally by up to 10%, in response to higher costs for raw materials and logistics. Berlin, Germany-based InstaFreight was contracted to organize transportation of Shell lubricants from Germany to Shell warehouses across Europe. By optimizing routes via road and rail transport, InstaFreight claims it will cut carbon dioxide emissions by up to half, which equals a saving of more than 260 metric tons of CO2 emissions per year.
Correction
February 23, 2021An article in the Feb. 2 issue, “Lukoil Streams Group II in Volgograd,” misstated the plant’s capacity to make API Group I base oil, which is now 270,000 metric tons per year. In the process of adding Group II capacity, the company reduced the plant’s Group I capacity from 520,000 t/y.