U.S. markets remain the most buoyant of all the global markets. Asia has picked up very slightly, whereas the European market, in particular the coastal market, is languishing this week. U.S. Gulf On the whole, the U.S. market is reasonably active and certainly not lacklustre as some observers contend. The Gulf-to-Caribbean service has seen more activity than previously, and some cargoes have certainly produced higher freights. Contractual nominations are active too, and there is little room re...

Oxea plans to increase prices on several chemicals used in producing lubricants, and Chemturas Petroleum Additives business announced upcoming price hikes on grease and detergents products. Oberhausen, Germany-based Oxea raised list and off-list prices for three carboxylic acids effective Oct. 1 by 75 to 100 per metric ton in Europe, by $100 to $130 per ton in the Middle East and Africa, and by $100 to $130 per ton in Asia. Carboxylic acids are chemical intermediates used for a variety of appli...

Gazprom Neft and Chevron recently signed an agreement to widen the sales network of Texaco branded marine oils in the Baltic region. Produced by Gazprom Neft Lubricants under the Chevron Marine Lubricants license, these oils will ship for the first time to the three Baltic countries – Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. The previous agreement between the suppliers allowed for selling Chevron marine oils only in Russia. The marine lubes market in the Baltics has shown intensive development in ...

ATIEL, the European lubricants industrys technical association, released a new version of its Code of Practice, which provides guidance for developers and marketers of engine lubricants designed to meet European performance specifications. The association said the latest version, Code of Practice Issue 19, incorporates technical updates to bring it into line with the latest engine lubricant specifications released by the European Automobile Manufacturers Association in its European Oil Sequence...

A new Chinese-run refinery expected to start up by Oct. 20 in Kyrgyzstan will produce base oil by 2014, the countrys energy minister said. The $300 million refinery, located in Kara-Balta about a two hour drive west of the capital of Bishkek, is a Chinese investment developed by state-run petrol company Zhongda. The 800,000 metric tons per year fuel refinery includes a 50,000 t/y base oil plant, which is expected to stream by April 2014, when the refinery could reach its full capacity. Yes, w...

Transformer oil rerefiner Hydrodec Group acquired used lube oil collector OSS for 4.7 million (U.S. $6.3 million), securing feedstock for a planned pilot plant that would rerefine used paraffinic base stocks to potentially produce API Group II and III base oils. According to Hydrodec, OSS is the United Kingdoms largest collector, consolidator and processor used lubricant oil and seller of processed fuel oil. It processed about 60 million liters of used oil in 2012. OSS has a national network of...

A Michigan agency on Sept. 12 announced stop-use and stop-removal orders for motor oils and transmission fluids from City Petroleum of Dearborn and Star Petroleum of Detroit. The stop-use and stop-removal orders prohibit the sale, offering for sale, or use of motor oils or transmission fluids manufactured, packaged, and/or distributed by City Petroleum (doing business as City Star) and/or Star Petroleum, the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development said in a Sept. 12 news releas...

Clean Harbors acquired rerefiner Evergreen Oil out of bankruptcy for $60 million cash, which gives the company a third rerefinery in North America. Evergreen Oil, along with parent and sole shareholder Evergreen Environmental Holdings, filed for Chapter 11 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California April 9. Clean Harbors was the initial winning bidder for the assets, including Evergreens Newark, Calif., rerefinery, which has 1,150 barrels per day of API Group II capacit...

The first licensing date for GF-6, the next passenger car engine oil upgrade, has been delayed until January 2017, according to several industry sources. The reason cited is delays in engine test development. Originally, the automotive industry had requested that GF-6 oils be widely available for consumers by January 2016, to coincide with increased fuel economy limits being introduced by the U.S. government. However, heavy-duty engine manufacturers also proposed a diesel oil upgrade, called PC...