Adrian Brown is away.

States continued their fight against substandard and mislabeled automotive lubricants in the marketplace, as Alabama weights and measures division issued a no sale order on a number of motor oils, and Missouris attorney general sued five St. Louis-area retailers for selling deceptive products. The efforts of Missouri and other states (i.e. Michigan, North Carolina and Alabama) suggest concerns about harmful motor oils, transmission fluids and antifreeze has reached a tipping point where a growin...

J.A.M. Distributing, a distributor of lubricants, base oils and fuels based in Houston, Texas, agreed to acquire assets of fellow Houston jobber Jones Oil. In a press release last week, J.A.M. announced that it will acquire substantially all assets of Houston-based Jones Oil and its sister company, High Tech Equipment. J.A.M., which is owned by investment firm Ridgemont Equity Partners, did not disclose the costs of the acquisition, but noted the deal will close within 120 days. This is an impor...

Russian lubricant maker Lukoil recently reached several key marine oil agreements to supply a range of customers, from civil maritime operators to navy contractors. In late May Lukoil Marine Lubricants made a deal to supply 4 million liters of marine oils in one year to Oman Shipping Co. Half of this volume is slated to be Navigo MCL 100, Lukoils flagship alkaline marine cylinder lubricant for low-speed two-stroke diesel engines. Lukoils marine oils underwent extended testing on several Oman Shi...

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – The U.S. government has a new focus on tribology because it understands the importance of overcoming friction in engines and drivetrains to save energy, an Argonne National Laboratory official told the STLE 2014 annual meeting here. Were investigating advanced lubricants and additives, were doing characterization and modeling of tribological processes, Don Hillebrand, director of Argonne, Ill.-based Argonne National Laboratorys Energy Systems Division, told the Soc...

Castrol will become the sole brand for BP Groups marine lubricant offerings, consolidating offerings provided under both BP Marine and Castrol Marine. The transition has been in progress for more than two years, starting with the gradual migration of ancillary products. Main grade marine lubricant products and services will move to their Castrol equivalents in the coming months.