A Shell spokesperson yesterday said a final decision on a lube oil blending plant for Indonesia has yet to be taken, despite news reports Friday the company plans to invest $90 million to $100 million for a lubricant plant in Indonesia. A Dow Jones Newswires report Friday quoted PT Shell Indonesia Chief Executive Darwin Silalahi, saying Shell will start construction of a blending plant in Indonesia this year and complete it in 2013 to 2014. In the report, Silalahi said the plant would have 100,...

Idemitsu Lubricants America Corp. plans to expand manufacturing capabilities and add 28 jobs to its Jeffersonville, Ind., facility over the next four years, according to an announcement Feb. 9 by a local economic development agency. Idemitsus expansion awaits final approval of incentive packages from the state of Indiana and the city of Jeffersonville, said One Southern Indiana, which is the combined chamber of commerce and economic development agency for Clark and Floyd counties. Idemitsu coul...

Authorities successfully disarmed an unexploded 1,000-kilogram (2,200-pound) World War II era bomb today in Germanys Oberhausen-Holten district, close to Oxeas production facility. The bomb was discovered last Friday, Oxea stated, and authorities established a 1,500-meter evacuation zone around the area. According to the City of Oberhausens evacuation announcement, analysis of aerial photographs in advance of a planned construction project in the area revealed the WWII-era U.S. bomb, buried onl...

LLK International, lubricant arm of Russian oil major LukOil and the biggest finished lubricants marketer in Russia, last week said it will expand sales to military and civilian customers in Afghanistan. Earlier this month we held talks with some representatives of the Afghan security forces, including the Ministry of Internal Affairs, with whom we signed a written statement for engine oils supply, the companys spokesperson Nikolay Manvelov told Lube Report last week. Afghan company Zamindar w...

About 52 percent of U.S. consumers intend to keep their cars five years or more, providing growing opportunities for maintenance and repair providers, according to market research company NPD Groups 2011 Aftermarket Outlook Survey. The annual survey is based on a nationally representative sample of 1,600 vehicle owners. Consumers remain motivated to prolong the life of their existing vehicle, NPD stated, with even consumers with 10-year-old vehicles looking to keep their cars another five years...

Fewer fixtures were seen out of the U.S. Gulf this week, undoubtedly as a direct consequence to the shortage of available space. The European market feels quieter too, though space is not always easy to find. Asian markets are busy, both deep-sea and short-sea. U.S. Gulf of Mexico The amount of fixing that took place over the past week out of the U.S. Gulf is considerably less than the week before. Much has to do with the tightness of vessel space in the area, which renders it rather pointless ...