Volume 12 Issue 50

Sasol Plans La. GTL Base Oil Plant

With its eye on the huge supplies of natural gas in the United States, Sasol, the South African energy and chemicals company, is moving forward with engineering and design plans for a 96,000 barrels per day gas-to-liquids (GTL) plant in Lake Charles, La., to make diesel and other refined products, including base oil for lubricants. A company spokesman said the $14 billion project will come online in two phases, with each phase producing 48,000 b/d. The first train is scheduled to begin operatio...

Mexico Opens Markets, Upgrades Base Oils

JERSEY CITY, N.J. – Pemex, Mexicos national oil company, will improve its API Group I quality and promises to offer Group II base oils by 2017. In addition, it has opened the market to domestic and imported lubricants in almost 10,000 Mexican gas stations. Jorge H. Loya Ramirez, CEO and president of Raloy Lubricantes, broke the news of Petroleos Mexicanos actions at the ICIS Pan-American Base Oils & Lubricants Conference here on Nov. 30. Loya Ramirez said Pemex is committed to base o...

Sales Execs' Pay Nears $130K

Geography, company size and Certified Lubrication Specialist credentials all impact the pay of lubricant sales and marketing executives, research by LubesnGreases magazine finds. But the bigger factor on payday could be whether he or she works for a company that manufactures lubes, versus one that only distributes them. All together, the 257 U.S. sales and marketing executives who responded to the 2012 Lubricants Industry Salary Survey said they earn an average of $129,700 a year. The median co...

Filling a Need in Russia's Vehicle Factories

MOSCOW-Production of Russian factory fill motor oil is characterized by small supply volumes and low profit margins, while manufacturers are facing more expensive tests and approvals, a market study found. The study focuses on motor oils used to factory fill on-road vehicles such as passenger cars, commercial vehicles, trucks and buses, as well as agricultural machinery, forest and road construction vehicles. Russia consumed 380,000 metric tons of motor oil in 2011, Maxim Matuk, director for ...

Oxea Continues Acids Investments

Oxea has expanded the nameplate capacity of its carboxylic acid units in Oberhausen, Germany, by 10 percent. The additional capacity will go on stream within the next few weeks. The company also announced it is building another carboxylic acid plant in Oberhausen, which is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2013. By then Oxea will operate five such production plants globally. The company does not disclose total capacity. Carboxylic acids are used for manufacturing energy-efficien...

SSY Base Oil Shipping Report

The year is finishing on a slow note in the United States and Europe. There was only a moderate amount of extra demand caused by year-end inventory shifts, and they were only on routes into Asia. The other major routes were flat. Asian markets however have continued to thrive. U.S. Gulf of Mexico The first week in December probably registered the peak of the year-end rush on the U.S. Gulf to Far East route, after which demand has slipped back down. For a while, large slugs of paraxylene were be...