Valero Energy is considering selling its Paulsboro, N.J., refinery. Acquired by Valero from Mobil in 1998, it includes one of the only API Group I base oil plants remaining on the U.S. East Coast. The Paulsboro refinery has a base oil plant with 11,000 barrels per day of API Group I capacity and 500 b/d of Group II capacity. The other remaining East Coast Group I plant is American Refining Groups 2,100 b/d plant at its Bradford, Pa. refinery. Valero spokesman Bill Day said the company would ex...

LONDON – After many months of silence, Shell last week confirmed that its Pearl gas-to-liquids project in Qatar, which includes about 30,000 barrels per day (over 1 million metric tons per year) of base oil capacity, will begin production in early 2011. However, no decision has been made on availability of the GTL base oils for the merchant market. David J. Wedlock, base oil technology manager with Shell Global Solutions, gave an update on base oils from the Pearl GTL project in Ras Laffa...

South Korean base oil refiner GS Caltex plans to invest 3 billion South Korean won (U.S. $2.6 million) to launch a finished lubricants business in India in April, as part of an effort to create new export markets for its products. GS Caltex India will be based in Mumbai, according to the Feb. 17 announcement. The company said it chose India as a location because the countrys lubricants market is about 4 trillion won ($3.5 billion), the worlds fifth largest major market behind the United States...

Calumet Specialty Products Partners last week reported net income of $8.2 million for the quarter ending Dec. 31, 2009, down 55.7 percent from $18.5 million in the year-ago period. For the full year, Calumets net income reached $61.8 million, up 39.2 percent from $44.4 million for 2008. The Indianapolis-based refiner attributed the fourth quarter decrease in net income, compared to 2008s fourth quarter, in part to a $50.2 million decline in specialty products gross profit, which it said was pri...

Shell Lubricants has launched a 550-ton bulk finished lubricants storage facility in Jebel Ali Free Zone (Jafza) in Dubai. The commissioning of the facility earlier this month brings Shell Lubricants total bulk finished product storage up to 2,000 metric tons in the United Arab Emirates, including barge and third party storage. Shell said the new facility will cater to growing local and regional demand for commercial lubricants as well as local and international demand for marine lubricants. T...

Shipping is active throughout most of Europe, and the U.S. too is busy and not long on tonnage. Inter-Asian routes are a bit slow to recover after the Lunar Holiday, whereas India and the Middle East continue to thrive. U.S. Gulf of Mexico Prompt space from the U.S. Gulf to the Caribbean remains tight for most parcels larger than 500 tons. March is shaping up to be a busy month of contractual business, but inevitably there will be spot space available. U.S. Gulf to Brazil and Argentina however ...