CHONGQING, China – The base oil market in China has become much more favorable for lubricant blenders in recent years with easier access to a wider variety of sources. That was the consensus at last months CBI China Base Oil Summit here. Several speakers predicted that it will remain a buyers market with low profit margins for the foreseeable future. The conditions of todays market are a stark contrast to a decade ago. Insiders at the CBI conference, held Sept. 11-13, agreed that the chan...

HollyFrontier is pursuing an ambitious capital investments plan, including improvements at its API Group I base oil plant in Oklahoma, and possible Group III production at its refinery in Utah. Consultancy Kline & Co. projects that global Group III supply will grow by more than 2.6 million tons by 2022. Kline estimates that will include 450,000 to 470,000 metric tons per year of Group III base oil from HollyFrontiers refinery in Woods Cross, Utah. According to HollyFrontiers September 201...

BUDAPEST, Hungary – Europe will consume 7 million tons of lubricants annually through 2021, but the continued economic crises may stunt markets, leading to modest growth only in Russia and Germany, reported consultancy Kline & Co. Major European markets such as the United Kingdom, France, and Italy, as well as the Iberian (Spain and Portugal) and Benelux (Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg) countries should all expect reduced lubricant consumption in the next few years as their econo...

Pemex will use Chevron Lummus Globals technology to add more than 13,600 barrels per day of API Group II base oil production capacity to its refinery in Salamanca, Mexico. In a statement, Chevron Lummus Global said it will partner with Pemex Refinacion, a subsidiary of Mexicos national oil company, on the lube oil modernization project to provide technology, process design and technical support. Pemex will use CLGs Isocracking, Isodewaxing and Isofinishing technologies to produce Group II base ...

Environmental Management Inc. opened a hydrotreating unit in Kansas City, Kan., where it will produce 9 million gallons of rerefined and recycled transformer oil per year. In construction for the past two years, the hydrotreating and rerefining unit upgrade allows the transformer oil recycling firm to increase its annual used oil collection capacity by about 30 percent and its total production capacity by 7 million gallons. EMI currently purchases oil from clients spanning from Virginia to Ore...

As OSHAs Dec. 1 deadline for training looms, U.S. employers have just two more months to ensure employees are familiar with the new Globally Harmonized System of hazardous material communication standards. The key thing for revised OSHA HazCom compliance in 2013 is the obligation for employers to train all employees on the new labeling elements and data sheets by the end of this year, the Petroleum Packing Councils general counsel Jeff Leiter reminded the council at its fall meeting in Nashvill...

The U.S. market is strong for October and many routes are tight on space. Europe continues to be very slow, almost across the board. Asia is quiet but in the midst of more public holidays. U.S. Gulf The U.S. Gulf is the place to be for any owners with open tonnage in October. Scheduled vessels on almost all the key trade lanes are reported to be full for the first half of October, with many already booked solid for the second half of October. U.S. Gulf-to-Far East is seeing the most pressure....