Adrian Brown is away this week.

The global base oil picture is more complicated than saying API Group I capacity will shut down, says consultant Amy Claxton. Group I plants will keep running and can turn a nice profit.Claxton, principal of consultancy My Energy in Hummelstown, Pa., offered an upbeat survey of the Group I base oil landscape at the ICIS Pan-American Base Oils & Lubricants Conference in New Jersey Dec. 5.New capacity is changing the landscape, she said. Its stating the obvious to say opportunistic base oil c...

BRUSSELS-The $1 trillion economies of Brazil, Russia, India and China all have different development drivers and potential for growth, but consultancy Kline & Co. reports that by 2013, the lubricant markets of each had bounced back from the recession and outperformed the global market. Brazil, Russia, India and China (referred to as BRIC by economists) are grouped together mainly because of the similarities in their population and economic growth rates, Kline & Co.s Milind Phadke expla...

MOSCOW – The Kremlins hefty spending on Russias defense industry and heavy investments in infrastructural and security projects ahead of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi contracted the countrys economic growth and caused lower lubricants production in 2012.Because of the weak economy projected at 1.5 percent growth in 2013 and influenced by the economic slowdown in Europe, a market observer expects poor results in the countrys lubes supply and demand balance sheet by 2015.The recovery cou...

Waste oil collector Atlantic Pacific LLC will relaunch its Midwest operations with a focus on Chicago, with three trucks and 8,500 gallons per day capacity.Hindsale, Ill.-based holding company ID Global Corp. announced that a recent round of funding for Atlantic Pacific enabled it to begin moving the equipment necessary for relaunch. Things are moving along with [Atlantic Pacific] and we see a great opportunity to rekindle some old accounts that have already accepted our new pricing structure an...