Gulf Oil, part of Indias Hinduja Group, will acquire U.S. metalworking fluids maker Houghton International from equity firm AEA Investors for $1 billion. The transaction is expected to close by the end of 2012. Gulf Oil will operate Valley Forge, Pa.-based Houghton as a separate company. According to Gulf, it will utilize both companies capabilities to expand geographic coverage, increase sales and distribution networks, and strengthen manufacturing to improve service and support to Gulfs custo...

LISBON, Portugal-While Europe is the worlds largest producer of rerefined lubricants today, the United States could challenge for the top spot within the next decade if all of the announced construction projects are realized, delegates to the 2012 Congress of the European Lubricants Industry were told. The U.S. market is on the cusp of some very strong growth, Milind Phadke of Kline & Co. told delegates, adding that many factors are coming into play to make rerefining a very attractive ind...

Troy Corp. expanded its manufacturing site and added a logistics center in Thailand to serve growing demand in Asia. It will also open a new technical service and research and development center in Bangkok in early 2013. Troy doubled the size of its Thailand manufacturing site, increasing its versatility and production capacity. The Florham Park, N.J.-based company recently unveiled a 1,500 square meter logistics center in Thailand. The expansion meets the growing need for Troys products in it...

Pertamina, Indonesias national oil company, announced on Nov. 8 that it will begin exporting lubricants to Switzerland and South Africa. The company also recently outlined plans to spin off its lubricant business unit as a subsidiary. Switzerland and South Africa are the 23rd and 24th export destination countries for Pertamina lubricants, Ali Mundakir, vice president of corporate communications, said in a statement. The inaugural export to Europe and Africa shows that Pertamina lubricants are g...

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – Despite looming global overcapacity, there has been no let up in new base oil projects, so 13 million tons per year of high cost base oil capacity should close or operate at reduced levels over the next five years, Stephen B. Ames predicts. Its not a pretty picture, Ames, managing director of SBA Consulting, Pepper Pike, Ohio, told the ICIS Middle Eastern Base Oils & Lubricants Conference here last month. More than 11 million t/y of new base oil capacity...

State-owned Belarus oil company Naftan last week started a low tonnage API Group III base oil unit at its Novoplotsk refinery, a company official told Lube Report on Monday. The base oil is produced as a by-product at the refinery’s fuel hydrocracking unit, according to the official, who asked not to be identified because the project was still in its early phase. At the moment the [unit’s] total output is only 6,000 tons annually, with possibility for further expansion in the fo...

U.S. business remains largely sluggish across the majority of trade lanes. Europe also suffered another poor week in terms of cargo demand. Asia, however, looks pretty buoyant, both domestically and on export business. U.S. Gulf of Mexico With the exception of Bayonne, N.J., all the terminals and storage facilities along the Eastern seaboard are fully operational again after Hurricane Sandy. The temporary suspension of the Jones Act to allow foreign-flag ships to trade petroleum products along ...