Asia continues to register a slight increase in new business. However, neither the U.S. nor Europe is as active as would normally be expected in November. Americas The amount of space left in the U.S. Gulf for loading in the first half of November is relatively small and it had reached a point where it looked as if owners might be able to push through freight increases. One of the more active products on this route has been monoethylene glycol, but a series of plant production issues occurred in...

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – Despite uncertainty over crude oil prices, there are grounds for optimism in the base oils market, according to an industry consultant. Jaap Kalkman, managing partner for Arthur D. Littles global energy and utilities practice, spoke to delegates at the 12th ICIS Middle Eastern Base Oils & Lubricants conference here last month. Global crude oil prices averaged $110 per barrel in 2013 and $99 in 2014, but this year skidded to just $50/barrel. According to K...

Ashlands Valvoline segment posted increased operating income, Fuchs Petrolub experienced an uptick in net income, and sales were up for Chemturas petroleum additives segment, while Quaker Chemical reported a decrease in net income, for the quarter ending Sept. 30, compared to the year-earlier quarter. Valvoline Ashland posted $87 million in operating income for its Valvoline segment during the three months ending Sept. 30 (the fourth quarter of Ashlands fiscal year), up 13 percent from $77 milli...

A recently signed law in Nigeria, the Standards Organization of Nigeria Act of 2015, puts more teeth in the governments ability to crack down on substandard lubricants, empowering regulators to arrest and prosecute offenders. The original SON Act of 2004 – which applies to but isnt limited to lubricant products – empowered the standards and regulatory agency to inspect various products, including engine oils, for compliance with national standards. That 2004 law authorized the agency...

Russian police confiscated nearly 6,000 liters of counterfeit motor oil in a raid in Nizhny Novgorod as part of a bigger anti-counterfeiting crackdown there. The operation is taking place at small-scale retail flea markets and stores around the city, the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the region said in an Oct. 21 press release. Besides other counterfeit goods, we succeeded in confiscating 5,600 liters of motor oil packed in different canisters and labeled with different brands. The police fil...

Gulf Petrochem Group inaugurated its new storage terminal in the United Arab Emirates. The terminal can house all classes of petroleum products including base oil. The new terminal in Hamriyah, Sharjah, will have 203,888 cubic meters total capacity with 37 tanks ranging from 1,700 cubic meters to 11,200 cubic meters each. It can connect to other key terminals in the vicinity, the company said in a news release, and is also connected to both inner and outer harbors of Hamriyah port. Our storage t...