While Shell plans to close a blending plant in Illinois and two U.S. distribution centers, it also unveiled a new blend center at its Houston lubricants plant and will expand blending capacity in West Virginia. On Friday, Shell informed employees of new plans to expand the capacity of its lubricants blending plant in Congo, West Virginia, a Shell spokesperson told Lube Report yesterday. For competitive reasons, the company doesnt disclose blending plant volume or financial details. Yesterday S...

LONDON -Even as the lubricants industry braces for the massive slug of API Group II and III base oils coming to market this year, a new wave of refinery construction could soon elbow onto the scene, suggests refining expert Amy Claxton. In addition to the many projects now under way, she predicts six more world-scale Group II and III base oil plants plus three major GTL plants could arrive by 2020. Global capacity for making Group III base oils will reach about 90,000 daily barrels this year, u...

Although Shell France is financing 10 million (U.S. $13.4 million) of the cost to restart Petroplus Holdings AGs Petit Couronne refinery, there are no plans to restart its 7,300 barrels per day base oil plant. Shell sold the refinery to Petroplus in early 2008. Petropluss subsidiaries in France, including refinery owner Petroplus Raffinage Petit-Couronne SAS, filed in January for court-based, collective insolvency. FHB Administrateurs Judiciaries was appointed as administrator for the assets i...

LONDON – After rebounding strongly in 2010, the lubricant industrys recovery from the recession slowed in 2011, according to estimates from Fuchs Petrolub AG. The planet consumed 35.1 million metric tons of lubes in 2011, Apu Gosalia, the companys head of global strategic marketing said Thursday here at the ICIS World Base Oils and Lubricants Conference. That was an increase of just 1.9 percent from 2010. Last years unspectacular performance came after a year (2010) in which global deman...

LONDON – Multinational base oil and lubricant companies eyeing long-term business opportunities in Chinas growing market face challenges that include increasing domestic competition as well as government policy changes. Although China is now the leading trading nation in the world and has overtaken Japan as the second largest economy, the government intends to steady growth at a consistent – and manageable – 8 percent annual growth range. These are some of the key points in a...

United States markets remain on a firm footing with tight tonnage supply and steady demand. European domestic business is satisfactory, but deep-sea volumes are thin. Asian markets have been a little more active this week. U.S. Gulf of Mexico Owners are playing hardball on the U.S. Gulf to the Caribbeanroute. There are plenty of cargoes out there, yet only a few open positions. This time owners seem determined to make the rate increases stick. There are 5,000 ton parcels from Houston to the Eas...