U.S. markets are quieter, but on some routes, December space has become scarce. The immediate urgency in the European market is less apparent, but ships are mostly well employed and rates are showing some firmness. Asia is calm and the focus is starting to switch to January cargoes. U.S. Gulf There is not exactly a year-end rush to the U.S. market, but rather, more of a gradual series of bookings. This is very noticeable on the U.S. Gulf-to-Far East route where December space has been completely...

SAN DIEGO — Last week, the New Category Development Team took up the ticklish issue of how to label the coming diesel engine oil upgrade for consumers. The upgraded category, known as PC-11, will need two distinct names under the American Petroleum Institutes licensing system. One could follow the familiar API C series, but the other version must be flagged clearly as a fuel-economy specification for the latest-model engines — not for existing and older heavy-duty diesels. Convening ...

Rosneft and heavyweights from several Russian industries have entered lubricant and oil product supply agreements in reaction to the countrys economic crisis. The companies said Russian businesses should buy domestic as a way of coping with the rubles devaluation. The key part of this effort is readiness of the countrys industrial behemoths to implement import substitution that would lead to new economic gains and increased competitiveness of domestic production, Rosneft said in a Dec. 4 press r...

Allegheny Petroleum Products last week opened a blending plant in Houston that will initially produce fuel additives and soon industrial lubricants. Barbara Kudis, vice president of the Wilmerding, Pa.-based company, said it purchased the land earlier this month and has employees in place, getting a new plant up and running. Terms were not disclosed. While theres a variety of different options we couldve taken, we found a facility at a decent price and that had some usable equipment already ther...

Transformer oil rerefiner Hydrodec said it plans to appoint a contractor early in 2015 to develop the front-end engineering design of its planned rerefinery in the United Kingdom. In August, the company announced it signed engineering, licensing and technology collaboration agreements with Chemical Engineering Partners for a planned U.K. rerefinery capable of producing API Group II/II+ base oil, potentially by 2016. We have a basic engineering design from CEP, and should be appointing a contract...

Sinopec plans to increase its activities in Cameroon – including production and sale of lubricants – through the creation of a new subsidiary, Sinopec International Petroleum Service Corp. Cameroon. According to Chinas ministry of commerce, the new Doula-based company – also known as Sinopec Service Cameroon – will have a wide range of business including asphalt production, lube production and sales, and refining. Currently, Sinopecs major activities in Cameroon are oil a...