Most major oil companies have informed U.S. customers of finished lubricant price hikes in recent weeks that will take effect from mid-June to early July, most citing increases in base oil and additives costs. Chevron will raise prices 6 to 10 percent on lubricating oils, gear lubes and greases effective June 13. ConocoPhillips will hike prices 7 to 8 percent on finished lubricant products, depending on product-specific factors, effective June 13. ExxonMobil will increase prices up to 7 pe...

A massive fire that took eight hours to control devastated toll blender TriTech Lubricants factory in Dandenong South, a suburb of Melbourne, Australia, on Thursday evening. The Country Fire Authority (CFA) was notified about the fire at 8 p.m. Thursday, CFA Operations Officer Mark Kennedy said in a press conference Friday. Upon arrival, we learned the factory involved in manufacturing engine oils had a fire that spread throughout their whole warehouse and into their storage tanks, Kennedy told...

A Bahrainian petroleum products supplier earlier this year opened an oil rerefinery with capacity to produce 36,000 metric tons per year of base oils. The company, Agas International, says it wants to take advantage of a dearth of oil recycling facilities in the area. There is a lot of used lubricating oil being generated in surrounding countries, Prem Kumar, Agas vice president of finance, told Lube Report yesterday. But there are not enough rerefineries to handle all of (the oil). We see an o...

MOSCOW – From virtually nothing in the mid-1990s, API Group III base stocks now account for a significant and growing share of global base oil production, with better properties than Group II, according to SK Lubricants. Total global base oil nameplate capacity in 2010 was around 927,000 barrels per day, while the share of Group III base stocks last year was 62,500 b/d, Jan Trocki, technical manager at SK Lubricants Europe, told Base Oils and Lubricants in Russia and the CIS conference h...

A power steering fluid leak led Volvo to recall 350 model year 2010 and 2011 vehicles, beginning on or before May 31. Considered luxury crossover SUVs, the affected vehicles were manufactured from Jan. 29, 2010, through Aug. 16, 2010. Due to an assembly process issue and an oil pipe geometry that is out of specification, a resulting slow leakage from the oil pipe connection at the steering gear valve housing can drain the power steering system of fluid. Impacts can include increased noise and g...

There is plenty of open tonnage in the U.S. Gulf over the next week or two, governing freight rates. Europe also had a much slower week, exerting downwards pressure on freights. Asia remains quiet. U.S. Gulf of Mexico The lower Mississippi has reopened to barge traffic, with restrictions, but it has been too late for some chemical plants that had to stop due to delayed feedstock deliveries. A number of deep-sea shipments have also been cancelled, which has left a number of prompt ships in the ...