If you’re wondering how much gas-to-liquid and Group III base oil is arriving in the United States from the Middle East, the answer is “plenty.” Data on imports of lubricant base oils published recently by the federal Energy Information Administration show that the U.S. hauled in more base oil in the first six months of this year than it did in the same period last year. And imports from two new Middle East sources accounted for essentially all of the growth. Total U.S. import...

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – Luberef yesterday formally announced a major expansion of its refinery in Yanbu al Bahr, Saudi Arabia, to produce 700,000 metric tons per year of API Group II base oil. In addition to the new Group II plant, scheduled for completion in the third quarter of 2015, Luberef will also increase bright stock output at Yanbu from todays 84,000 to 175,000 t/y. For 35 years, Luberef has been at the fore of the base oil industry in the Middle East, Ali A. Al-Hazmi, Sau...

Mil Speck Re-Rerefining Oil Co. selected a 40-acre site in West Virginia for its rerefinery, which is expected to begin production in early 2014. The company, which is jointly developing the rerefinery with non-profit group Renewable Manufacturing Gateway, expects the rerefinery to process 25 million gallons of used motor oil per year, and to produce vacuum gas oil, base neutral and asphalt flux. Both companies are located in Pittsburgh. Weve been at this a good while, Mil Speck CEO Carl Green...

Stringent emission regulations will provide a major test for lubricants in the shipping industry in the next decade, according one industry analyst. A workshop conducted at the ACI European Base Oils and Lubricants conference last month in Prague reviewed the challenges and changes facing the marine cylinder lubricants industry as it adjusts to operating under guidelines intended to rein in the emission of nitrogen and sulfur oxides (NOx and SOx). Air pollution in coastal waters as well as the...

A fire inside a 6,000-gallon lube oil tank led to an explosion at the Union Pacific Railroads Bailey Yard facility in Nebraska on Oct. 4. About 12:30 p.m. in the afternoon we had a fire that resulted in an explosion, Union Pacific spokesman Mark Davis told Lube Report. The explosion blew the top off the tank but the cylinder structure remained intact. The incident didnt result in any chemical releases, according to Davis. Emergency responders showed up with foam and put out the fire at about 1...