The U.S. has come back on track, especially on the routes into Asia. European demand continues to nudge upwards and Asia, aside from a flat spot on palm oil, looks to be heading towards a busy end of year. U.S. Gulf U.S. Gulf to Far East is where the action is these days. November space is almost tanked out. As owners finalize last bits of contract nominations and compute how much space is left, there is a possibility that around 15,000 metric tons of additional space could open up, but a decen...

EMA, the Truck and Engine Manufacturers Association, has requested a delay in the first-licensing date for the next heavy-duty engine oil upgrade, PC-11. EMA now wants the oils to debut April 1, 2016, giving it three more months to complete engine test development.Original plans called for the oils to be commercially available by Jan. 1, 2016, to coincide with the introduction of more stringent vehicle fuel economy and emissions limits set by the federal government. EMA now wants the launch date...

VeroLube Inc. of Canada plans to build API Group II and III rerefineries in Alberta, Canada, and in Houston, with construction expected to start as early as late 2014.The engineers will be designing through September 2014, and construction will start shortly after that, VeroLube CEO Leslie Wulf told Lube Report. Were also exploring other regions for other refineries – they will all be based around our ability to secure feedstock. In 2014s first quarter, the company anticipates closing on t...

While majors still lead the pack, smaller companies have a chance to shine in a global lubricants market that remained at 38.7 million metric tons in 2012, unchanged from 2011, Kline & Co. reports.According to Klines new Global Lubricants 2012: Market Analysis and Assessmentstudy, Shell claimed the top spot again last year, raking in a 12 percent global market share, followed by ExxonMobil and BP at 10 percent and 7 percent, respectively.Players like Fuchs and Gazprom edged up in the listin...

MOSCOW – Russias sluggish economic growth, projected at just 1.3 percent for 2013, is delaying the countrys base oil modernization projects, an industry summit heard.Russias industrial production is expected to stagnate in 2013. Initially forecast at 3.6 percent, Russias gross domestic product growth projections were recently lowered by the economics ministry to 1.8 percent for this year. A week after that announcement, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development forecast 1.3 perc...

The Savant Group broke ground last week on a $3 million project to expand manufacturing, laboratory and training operations at its headquarters in Midland, Mich., by spring 2014.The consortium – made up of Savant Labs, Tannas Co., King Refrigeration, and Institute of Materials – conducts analysis, testing and education on lubricants, fuels and related chemicals. The addition will include a technical training facility, expanded customer service area, and additional labs and manufactur...

Not much waste oil rerefining occurs in Australia, but two projects currently underway should boost production of rerefined base stocks.Southern Oil Refining Pty., one of two rerefiners in the country, is building a second plant in the Queensland city of Gladstone. The facility, scheduled to open in March 2014, is designed with capacity to produce 60 million liters of API Group II base stocks per year (1,000 barrels per day).In addition, SOR reached an agreement for Hydrodec to co-locate its use...