Demand for vessel space on most routes out of the U.S. Gulf is very strong. Europe is steady this week, while Asia has seen a last minute flurry of fixing before the Lunar New Year. U.S. Gulf The U.S. Gulf-to-Far East route continues to be the most active trade lane anywhere in the world. Scheduled space in February has virtually all gone, while even in March there are only a couple of ships with small amounts of space here and there. Owners who have been able to hold back their ships are probab...

Legislators in California are considering a bill that would require automotive service providers to notify customers of the oil change interval that carmakers recommend for their vehicles. Service providers would be prohibited from advising intervals shorter than those listed in the owners manual, for example, when placing a sticker on the windshield indicating when the next oil change should occur. Installers would also need to list the oil grade and viscosity that the original equipment manufa...

Engine oil marketers hoping to license new products with the American Petroleum Institute or General Motors proprietary Dexos program are hitting a stumbling block: A key engine sequence test is unavailable at oil testing laboratories until further notice. The sidelined test is ASTM D6709, better known as the Sequence VIII engine test for bearing wear. In a Jan. 14 letter to Thom Smith of Valvoline, who chairs the ASTM Passenger Car Engine Oil Classification Panel, Patrick Lang of Southwest Rese...

Nyco announced yesterday that it has begun producing its first line of additives from a new unit at its Tournai, Belgium, synthetic lubes and ester base stocks manufacturing facility. The French specialty lubricants firm said the expansion of the Tournai plant cost 2.5 million (U.S. $2.7 million). Paris-based Nyco produces both synthetic ester base stocks as well as finished lubricants, but the new unit marks its first foray into additives manufacturing. The unit will primarily make antioxidants...

The U.S. government has reserved over $100 million in loan guarantees for a commercial-scale Biosynthetic Technologies facility that would use fatty acids from high-oleic vegetable oils to produce synthetic base oil. In its new release Monday, the Irvine, California-based company disclosed the plant will produce 20 million gallons (67,000 metric tons) of the high-performance base oil per year, for use in automotive and industrial lubricants. Our total project cost will be approximately $150 mill...

S-Oils base oil segment and BPs lubricant business reported higher fourth quarter profits, while Afton Chemicals profits were down, all compared to the last quarter of 2014. Afton Chemical Afton Chemical reported operating profit of $75.3 million for the quarter ending Dec. 31, down 11.9 percent from $85.5 million in 2014s fourth quarter. The decrease was due to lower sales volume, changes in foreign currency exchange and increases in research and development investments, partially offset by low...

Lubricant supplier Oando Marketing Plc. expanded its blending plant in Lagos, Nigeria, solidifying its position as one of the countrys largest producers. Oando Marketing Plc. invested in new production lines and upgraded our Lagos facility from an annual capacity of 9 million liters to 14 million liters, with all equipment optimized to improve efficiency. A new, fully automated filling line was also installed and commissioned in 2014, said Lilian Ikokwu, head of lubricants for Oando. Ikokwu said...