The market in the U.S. Gulf scraped through another week without any major changes. European coastal routes have been steady, but deep-sea is not generating much traffic. Asia continues to be active and space remains tight. U.S. Gulf of Mexico The freight market out of the U.S. Gulf is fairly resilient, and freights have not changed much. Equally, business is not booming, and ship owners have to learn to take cargoes where they can. Bunker prices are again on the rise, pushing up the limit to...

LAS VEGAS – Nanoparticles research can help modern lubricants work better, replace some current lubricants, and may even possess self-repairing functions, Georgetown University professor Stephen Hsu said during a presentation at the Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers annual meeting. Hsu noted his team is conducting research on nanoparticles of metals, their size effect, adhesion to surfaces and shear deformation mechanisms. Their research also looks at nanoparticles reactio...

British Petroleum executive Keith Mullin will replace Gulf Oil Marine CEO Caroline Huot, who stepped down June 15. Gulf Deputy CEO Bernard Damin will take over Huots duties until Mullin joins the company in July. Keith Mullin becomes CEO on the 19th of July, as until then he is still subject to his current employment contract, Gulf Oil spokesman Richard Hoare told Lube Report. According to a LinkedIn listing for Mullin, he currently works for BP International in Australia as general manager of...

Kuwait Petroleum International Lubricants this week announced the installation of 24 storage tanks at its blending plant in Antwerp. The tanks are part of a five-year upgrade and expansion project that will create one of the largest blending plants in Europe. Scheduled to be inaugurated tomorrow, the new tanks have a combined capacity of 36 million liters – or approximately 30,000 metric tons of lubricating oil. KPIL, which sells lubricants under the brand name Q8 Oils, is in the midst of...

Chemtura and 26 U.S. affiliates filed a joint Chapter 11 reorganization plan and disclosure statement Thursday, key steps in exiting bankruptcy. Separately, the company has snagged $1.5 million in federal funds to support synthetic refrigerant lubricants development. Middlebury, Conn.-headquartered Chemtura expects the bankruptcy court to schedule a hearing to consider approval of the disclosure statement, and stated it remains on track to emerge from bankruptcy in the coming months. There is n...

An electrical arc ignited track grease along a stretch of the Chicago subway Sunday, causing a fire that injured 19 subway riders. Heavy smoke was reported at 4:58 p.m. on Sunday along the red line tracks just north of the citys downtown area, Chicago Fire Department spokesman Richard Rosado told Lube Report. We had approximately 32 companies and about 100 personnel at the scene, Rosado said, adding that the fire took about an hour to extinguish. Preliminary findings indicate that arcing from ...

SEOUL – To meet Chinas huge and growing demand for lubricants, its domestic oil majors are pumping out nearly 5 million metric tons of base oil a year, while imports add another 1.4 million tons. PetroChina and Sinopec could produce 1.5 million t/y of API Group III by 2015, a Sinopec official said, but research and development on additives is sorely needed. Zhang Guo Sheng, deputy chief engineer with Sinopecs Economics and Development Research Institute in Beijing, told the ICIS Base Oils...