Volume 15 Issue 48

SSY Base Oil Shipping Report

All the main markets in the U.S., Europe and Asia have moved up a notch to the extent that prompt space is becoming scarcer. Volumes are still not at usual year-end levels however. Americas Traders out of the U.S. Gulf have been less inclined to sell styrene to Europe which has caused a slight subsidence in rates. Instead, demand for ethanol has picked up following some plant-to-company issues in Europe. It is estimated Europe will need to import around 30,000 cubic meters of ethanol per month f...

Shell Moves Forward on LAO Expansion

Shell Chemical LP will increase production of linear alpha olefins (LAO) at its manufacturing plant in Geismar, La., adding 425,000 metric tons per year to bring its total LAO capacity to 1.3 million t/y. Construction of this fourth LAO unit in the Louisiana plant will begin in the first quarter of 2016. LAO is the building block chemical for polyalphaolafin (PAO), which is used in making a range of lubricant products including motor oils, industrial oils, additives and drilling fluids. Accordin...

Lukoil Aims High in Europe

MOSCOW – Russias Lukoil has built a significant presence in several European lubricant markets and is now working to build up its business in several larger Central European countries, an official said during an industry event in November. We are tasked to expand the presence of Lukoil oils in the European market, Yaroslav Litvintsev, executive director of the companys Europe operations, told RPIs Lubricants Russia conference held here Nov. 16-17. The focus is on Germany, Italy, Austria, S...

Africa Ponders Biolubes Potential

An official from a biobased lubricants supplier expressed optimism for the potential growth of such products in Africa – especially in agriculture and industry – at a conference in Johannesburg, though local blenders were pessimistic. Speaking at the ICIS Africa Base Oils and Lubricant Conference, Suri Chetty, director of business development for Unichem South Africa, said Africa is 10 years behind global trends in biobased lubricants. He estimated global biobased lubricants consumpt...

Technical Advances Boost Velocys GTL Plants

Velocys last week said technical advances learned via a pilot plant enabled it to increase design capacity for its Ashtabula, Ohio, gas-to-liquids pilot to 4,800 barrels per day, though a final investment decision is pending. The plant uses United Kingdom-based Velocys Fischer-Tropsch technology, which converts natural gas to liquids. Neville Hargreaves, Velocys business development manager, confirmed the plant would produce lubricants and waxes, among other products. The Ashtabula plant is targ...

BRB, Tiarco Form Partnership

BRB International B.V. and Tiarco Chemical entered a commercial and technical partnership to collaborate on the development and supply of lubricant additives. Tiarco will offer BRB additive packages in the regions it covers in North and Latin America, and BRB will likewise offer Tiarco products, the companies said in a press release yesterday. But the collaboration goes beyond product distribution, Tiarco Global Sales Manager Jim Hunt explained. Were also joining commercial and technical resourc...

Briefly Noted

Hydrodecstarted the fifth and sixth production trains at its rebuilt transformer oil rerefinery in Canton, Ohio. Telko will marketCastrolmotor oils in Finland from the beginning of 2016. Ergon International Inc. and Petroleum Specialties Pte., a subsidiary of Apar Industries, agreed to market co-branded naphthenic insulating oils specifically for the Turkish transformers market.