Chevron Phillips Chemical Co. has agreed to buy Neste Oil NVs polyalphaolefin plant in Beringen, Belgium, the companies announced Friday. The acquisition gives Chevron Phillips a production foothold in Europe and makes it one of the globes three big suppliers of PAOs. The companies did not disclose the price for the deal, which is subject to regulatory approval. Chevron Phillips said it took an opportunity to grow geographically. We are excited about this acquisition as it represents a unique ...

OSHA cited ExxonMobil Refining and Supply for 22 alleged workplace safety violations at its Baton Rouge, La., refinery, with proposed fines totaling $126,600. The 22 serious and two other-than-serious violations at the facility, which produces base oils and waxes, among other products, stem from a March 14 inspection by OSHAs Baton Rouge Area Office. OSHA said serious violations included failing to properly investigate incidents, repair equipment, address inconsistent thickness measurements c...

A fire raged for 22 hours Friday at a Mitchell, Australia, factory that handles transformer oils, resulting in explosions and thick smoke plumes. The factory is owned by Energy Services International, whose services include transformer oil reclamation and vacuum drying, oil sampling and testing, and dechlorination of PCB contaminated oil and solid waste. Mitchell is a suburb in north Canberra. Early Friday morning, the Australia Capital Territory Fire Brigade confirmed the fire was burning an u...

Pertamina, Indonesias national oil company, last week outlined plans to begin exporting lubricants products into Bangladesh. According to Pertamina, Bangladesh has a population of 162 million, and a gross domestic product of $94.5 billion. Bangladeshs potential lubricant market is 70,000 metric tons per year, the company claims. Pertamina said it expects its lubricants will compete in Bangladesh with major lubricants players such as Shell, BP, Castrol, Fuchs, Total, Conoco, Caltex and more tha...

BARCELONA, Spain – As regulation of metalworking fluids becomes increasingly global, creation of a research consortium could allow formulators to share the costs of compliance and innovation. Milacrons Eugene White, environmental health and safety manager for Cimcool industrial fluids, highlighted regulatory trends at last weeks UEIL/ILMA/STLE 4th Symposium on Metal Removal Fluids here. He proposed that fluid manufacturers establish a global metal removal fluid consortium to support indus...

The week felt a bit quieter within Europe and the U.S., but Asia remains a hotspot, very tight on September space both domestically and on export business. U.S. Gulf of Mexico The U.S. Gulf is still not a good place for owners to have open tonnage as the options are very limited for getting away again afterwards. Gulf-to-Caribbean routes have seen a degree of activity on the palm oil and tallow front, along with some small chemical parcels, but essentially there are still too many vessels plyin...