The U.S. is busy but little is being fixed due to a shortage of ships. Europe has quieted considerably after a busy couple of weeks, while Asia sees better demand and a slight increase in rates. Americas U.S. Gulf-to-Europe demand is strong and whilst there are a couple of ships with small amounts of space still within December, everything is effectively geared towards January. Styrene and ethanol, for example, are being quoted for January, as are cargoes of glycol, phenol, acrylonitrile, lysine...

With PC-11 heavy-duty engine oils advancing towards a launch next Dec. 1, lubricant marketers are focusing on the hard questions: How to demonstrate the performance of the new products, what will they do to drain intervals, and how eager are customers to have them? Earlier this month, Melissa Chu of Infineum reminded an industry gathering that PC-11 formulations – which are expected to be labeled as API CK-4, or API FA-4 for a fuel-saving version – will have to undergo a costly slate...

Clean Harbors Safety-Kleen subsidiary will impose an increase of $80 per stop on all customers across its used oil customer base, citing continued declines in crude oil indices and base oil pricing. These adverse energy market dynamics are decreasing the values of our rerefined products and byproducts, as well as our recycled fuel oil, Kevin Hayden, executive vice president for Safety-Kleen Environmental, said in a news release issued yesterday. This increase, which we will now be implementing o...

Russian police on Friday raided a massive counterfeit motor oil business in Moscow that they said sold fake products in containers designed to look like legitimate popular motor oil brands. The bust follows similar raids of smaller operations in Novosibirsk and Irkutsk. In this case, the organizers set up engine oil production on an industrial scale in the Russian capital, and over an extended period of time, developed it into a multi-billion rubles business. Our preliminary estimates show an il...

Petroleos Mexicanos recently divested its 49 percent stake in Mexicana de Lubricantes, ending a 22-year joint venture with one of Mexicos largest lubricant suppliers. This past October, Pemex sold its shares to investment company Impulsora Jalisciense for 826.2 million pesos (around U.S. $50 million), read a press release from the company. The divestment, according to Pemex, was made in accordance with Mexicos Energy Reform, which mandates the company to focus on projects related to exploration,...