Engine manufacturer MAN Diesel & Turbo recently issued service letters advising ship owners that using a single universal lubricant to handle the range of sulfur content in their bunker fuels could corrode cylinder liner walls in its newest engine designs. Based on current technology and technical and economic aspects, two-cylinder lube oils with a high and a low BN [base number], respectively, will be the optimal solution for operation in the fuel sulfur range of 0.1 to 3.5 (or 5) percent...

Shell led in global market share of finished lubricants in 2011 with 13 percent, reported consultancy Kline and Co., which estimated global lubricant consumption at 38.6 million metric tons in 2011, up 3 percent from 2010. According to Klines study, Global Lubricants Industry: Market Analysis and Assessment, Shell remained ahead of ExxonMobil at 10 percent and BP with 7 percent. That includes branded and private label sales, along with factory fill. Milind Phadke, India-based director for Klin...

What are the cradle-to-grave environmental impacts of used lubricating oil, and of the various alternatives for collecting, reusing or disposing of it? A life-cycle assessment (LCA) under way now in California is about two-thirds of the way to answering that question. This assessment could be the most comprehensive and costly life-cycle assessment ever done, according to industry consultant Jack Waggener. The budget is $6 million over three years. By contrast, most LCAs cost less than $100,000....

DUBAI, U.A.E. – Pakistans lubricant market is vibrant and lucrative despite a glut of counterfeit and smuggled lubricants and industries hobbled by power shortages. Yasin H. Risvi, Karachi-based vice president of Total Oil Pakistan and chairman of the Lubricants Business Society of Pakistan, provided an overview of Pakistans base oil and lubricants markets at the ICIS Middle Eastern Base Oils & Lubricants Conference here in October. Pakistan has the opportunity to become Asias trad...

Russian lube marketer Gazprom Neft-SM sold 8,000 tons of its premium G-Family finished lubricants during the first 10 months of 2012, a 150 percent increase compared to the similar period last year, the company said. Expanded distribution channels and an increased assortment of products are directly related to the soaring sales of the Gazprom Neft-SM G-Family product line, according to Ivan Yakovlev, head of Gazprom Neft-SM strategic marketing and development department. In 2012 we started di...

The markets in both Europe and the United States are extremely quiet for this time of year, and there is little to indicate that a year-end rush is about to take place. Asia continues to be active on all fronts. U.S. Gulf of Mexico Rates have started to increase on the U.S. Gulf to Far East route, and a 5,000 ton parcel to scheduled principal ports in the Far East would now cost close to $75 per metric ton and perhaps $80/t to China. The rates appear to have moved more because of owners expecta...