Volume 13 Issue 40

Petronas Postpones Group III Growth

Reflecting global oversupply, Petronas will postpone its plans to increase API Group III base oil capacity at its Melaka refinery in Malaysia, the state-owned oil company announced last week. Recent reports suggest that the retrofitting project would have resulted in a 15 percent increase to the plants 270,000 tons per year Group III capacity. However, a December 2011 article from Singapores Business Times – citing an interview with Petronas executive Datuk Wan Zulkiflee Wan Ariffin R...

Indian Firm to Rerefine in Texas

India-based Century Refineries broke ground last month on a $1.7 million rerefinery outside Bay City, Texas, with vacuum gas oil production slated to begin by April 2014. The plant will initially produce VGO, light fuel and asphalt flux, along with base oils in the future, Century Refineries co-owner K.S. Bharadwaj told Lube Report. The company expects that during its first phase, the plant will rerefine around 8 million gallons of used motor oil per year. The company plans to release additiona...

KSA: Regional Leader in Lubes

DUBAI, U.A.E. – Quality in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabias 405,000 metric ton per year lubricant market will rise fast with the 2016 introduction of domestic API Group II base oil production, and business customers in particular will recognize the value of better oils. We support the growth of Group II and III base oils in the Saudi Arabian market, Samir M. Nawar, president and CEO of Petromin Corp., told the ICIS Middle Eastern Base Oils & Lubricants Conference here last week. By the e...

Chinas Rerefiners Modernize

CHONGQING, China – Primitive and unproductive to date, Chinas rerefining industry has begun to expand and modernize, the head of the countrys rerefining association told a conference here last month. The timing is good, the general secretary of the China National Resources Recycling Association told the China Base Oil Summit, as rerefined base stocks can help meet Chinas burgeoning base oil demands. China is a net importer of base oils and other oil products, Liu Yanbin said during a Sep...

Oman Oil Nabs Oxea

Government-owned Oman Oil Co. acquired chemical manufacturer Oxea from private equity firm Advent International. Terms were not disclosed. Bloomberg on Oct. 10 reported the Oxea acquisition cost $2.4 billion, citing three people familiar with the matter who asked not to be named because negotiations were private. Oberhausen, Germany-based Oxea is a global supplier of solvents, polyols and oxo derivatives such as carboxylic acids, esters and amines. The products are used to make coatings, lubri...

Swan Song for Biolube Center

The University of Northern Iowas National Ag-Based Lubricants Research Center will be phased out after 22 years following the expiration of two key federal grants. Established in 1991, the Ag-Based Lubricants Center expanded into a national center in 2006. Its stated mission is to provide a national focus for research and technology transfer activities that create and nurture the commercialization of biobased industrial lubricants. The U.S. Department of Agriculture, Department of Energy and D...

Gazprom Bunkers in Primorsk

Gazpromneft Lubricants is offering marine oil bunkering services at a key Russian port to enhance its maritime product competitiveness and sales, the company said last week. The sea port of Primorsk in the Gulf of Finland is the largest port for the export of crude oil and petroleum products in the Northwest region of Russia. We are the first company to render bunkering services in Primorsk. Seahake is the first ship that was recently serviced and loaded with 15 tons of lubricants, the compan...

Briefly Noted

Ineos Oligomers selected Palmer Holland as U.S. distributor for its Indopol PIB. Jiffy Lube International appointed Steven Ledbetter president, succeeding Stu Crum, who became president of Bridgestone Retail Operations in August. Biosynthetic Technologies began operating a demonstration plant for making Estolide base oils at Albemarles Baton Rouge, La., facility.

SSY Base Oil Shipping Report

The United States has become quite quiet, because there is very little space left able to load within October. Europe is very poor with masses of idle tonnage. In Asia, there is more prompt business and ships are gradually easing back into November. U.S. Gulf The theme this week to shipping out of the U.S. is simply no space left for October, almost irrespective of the route. U.S. Gulf-to-Far East is potentially the busiest of all the trade lanes, but the only way to make any business work is t...