Chevron on Monday outlined plans to start construction of its $1.4 billion base oil plant in Pascagoula, Miss., with 25,000 barrels per day of API Group II base oil capacity. We expect it to be on stream towards the end of 2013, Patti Leigh, general manager for Chevron Lubricants base oil group, told Lube Report. Steve Renfroe, spokesman for Chevron in Mississippi, said final approval for its air permit was received in December, which was required before base oil plant construction could comme...

Swedish grease maker Axel Christiernsson on Monday acquired U.S. grease manufacturer Jesco Resources, which will operate as Axel Americas LLC. The price was not disclosed. Axel Group CEO Johan Stureson will serve as president of Axel Americas, while Jescos previous owner and president Richard Howell will remain as executive vice president. Stureson said the two companies know each other well, and that both will benefit from the acquisition. Each manufactures private label greases for a wide var...

Global vehicle population is growing at a faster rate than world population, from about 720 million units today to a little over 1.1 billion vehicles projected in 2020, according to Edward P. Becker of General Motors Powertrain Division. And while internal combustion engines that use conventional fuels and lubricants won’t disappear overnight, drivers are seeing a greater array of propulsion technologies to choose from. In a webinar sponsored last week by the Society of Tribologists and L...

Ashlands Valvoline and BPs Castrol joined the ranks of U.S. lubricant suppliers that recently notified customers of finished lubricant price mark ups, echoing others in citing increased costs for raw materials. Valvoline customers received letters Jan. 13 outlining price increases averaging up to 8 percent effective Feb. 14, varying by sku and segment. This price adjustment is a result of various market factors, including cost increases in base stocks and other raw materials, Valvolines letter...

South Korean base oil refiner S-Oil reported large increases in operating income and revenues for the quarter ending Dec. 31, 2010, compared to the year-earlier period. S-Oil’s lubes segment posted operating income of 123.3 billion South Korean won (U.S. $111 million) for the fourth quarter, up 181 percent from 44.8 billion won in the last quarter of 2009. For the full year, the lube segment of S-Oil posted 355.5 billion won in operating income ($320 million), up 109 percent from 170.2 bi...

Two workers were killed when a 200-liter tank of engine oil exploded in a motor depot in Nizhniy Novgorod on Jan. 27, the Russian state agency Itar-Tass reported. The incident occurred in the Stroigaz construction companys yard, the Russian emergency situations ministrys local department told the agency. The blast occurred when a fork lift operator and a truck driver, were transferring the engine oil to smaller containers using a hose connected to a truck tanker loaded with 4.5 tons of motor ...

Good demand for space out of the U.S. Gulf is reflected in the strong freight levels seen these days. Europe too had another busy week, whereas preparations for the New Year holidays meant a quieter week on Asian domestic markets. U.S. Gulf of Mexico Numbers firmed even more on transatlanticeastbound routes, spurred on by higher European aromatic prices and a willingness to import U.S. ethanol and biodiesel again. A couple of deals were done at around $60 per ton for 10,000 to 12,000 ton cargo...