Seven weeks into Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, the number of foreign businesses vowing to leave Russia or scale back there continues to grow well into the hundreds. In the lubricant industry, companies are taking a wide range of tacks – some vowing to exit, others saying they will stay and still others declining to discuss their plans.

Specialty chemical supplier Perstorp AB will build a new plant at an existing site in Sweden to bring an additional 70,000 metric tons per year of carboxylic acids production onstream in 2024, doubling its capacity, the company said. The chemicals are used as ingredients in the manufacture of refrigeration lubricants, among other applications.

Bahrain Lube Base Oil Co. in Sitra, Bahrain, has been churning out API Group III base stocks since 2011. It’s clear who operates the plant and also who sells the base stocks that it produces. What’s unclear is the ownership of the facility – or at least who owns a 45% share of it divested by Neste.