MOSCOW – The lubricants industry will need to find alternative markets for its products over the coming decades, as nearly 30 percent of the worlds cars produced in 2030 are expected to be hybrid vehicles, which need far less lubricants than todays cars and trucks. Global production of plug-in hybrid electric and flex-fuel or liquefied petroleum gas vehicles will reach around 19 million units, or 19 percent of annual vehicle production by 2020, but the sheer number of conventional drivetr...

HOUSTON – Synthetic-blend passenger car motor oils are losing value in the market, while premium oils with the best base oils, viscosity modifiers and additive packages offer real performance differentiation. That translates to higher value for consumers and oil marketers alike. Synthetic blend has lost its meaning, and the North American motor oil market is increasingly segmented, Erika Vela, crankcase technologist with Infineum USA, told the NPRA Lubricants & Waxes meeting here Nov...

Bulgarian lubes marketer Prista Oil bought Chevrons controlling stake in Uz-Texaco in Uzbekistan and started producing lubricants there, as part of its expansion into Central Asia and the Middle East. Terms were not disclosed. Fergana, Uzbekistan-based lubricant blender Uz-Texaco was a joint venture between state-owned Uzbekneftegaz and Chevrons Texaco Overseas Holdings Inc. Prista Oil is Bulgarias biggest finished lubricants producer, and it acquired Chevrons 50.1 percent stake in the JV, whic...

Chrysler is recalling 340 model year 2012 vehicles because of contaminated brake fluid that could degrade sealing components in the brake system. An assembly plant in Toluca, Mexico, manufactured the Dodge Journey and Fiat 500 vehicles from Oct. 24 to Oct. 26. Some vehicles were assembled with contaminated brake fluid and may experience a degradation of the sealing components within the brakes system, leading to potential loss of braking, Chrysler stated in its defect information report Nov. 1...

Business is starting to trickle in after the long U.S. Thanksgiving holiday. European markets went quiet about the same time, but are also starting to see more activity now. Asian markets are still a bit subdued. U.S. Gulf of Mexico It had been a relatively busy period leading up to the long Thanksgiving weekend, but of course everything was put on hold until the return. Business is starting to pick up again, but traders are wary about flooding the market with enquiries that do not stand a chan...