Volume 17 Issue 23

SSY Base Oil Shipping Report

The shipping market worldwide – producers, traders, ship owners and brokers – will be happy to shrug off the last couple of months, when a steady string of public holidays repeatedly interrupted trade. With no major ones in sight, apart from Ramadan, it is hoped that business will start to pick up through June. U.S. Gulf As predicted last week, the route into the Far East is now a lot tighter on vessel space, with almost all scheduled June space spoken for. There are a couple of full...

AAA Report Lauds Synthetic Oils

An American Automobile Association report found synthetic engine oils performed an average of 47 percent better than conventional oils in several industry-standard tests and recommended motorists consider a synthetic if frequently subjecting their vehicle to stop-and-go driving, towing, aggressive driving or operating in extreme climates. The report, AAA Engine Oil Research: AAA proprietary research into the differences between conventional and synthetic engine oil, was announced yesterday. AAA ...

Puraglobe to Begin Making Group III

Puraglobe will begin producing API Group III base oils later this month as the upgrade to its Troeglitz, Germany, rerefinery comes to a close, the company told Lube Report. The facility, which previously produced only Group II oils, will have capacity to produce 50,000 metric tons per year of Group III. With this start-up we will have converted 50 percent of our production from Group II+ into Group III, explained Puraglobes Chief Executive Officer and President Andreas Schueppel in an interview....

Slavneft Completes Group III Upgrade

MOSCOW – Slavneft has begun making trial batches of base oils for the Group III upgrade at its plant in Yaroslavl, Russia, according to Rosneft, a partner in the refining joint venture. Rosneft said it is also mulling production of Group II and extender oils at its Novokuibyshevsk refinery in 2018. Tibur Leimeter, head of RN-Lubricantss research and development, standardization and technology department, told an industry event that Yaroslavls 100,000 metric tons per year Group III base oil...

Ardian Invests in LBC

Private investment company Ardian agreed to acquire a 35 percent stake in LBC Tank Terminals, buying out previous shareholders State Super and Sunsuper, the companies announced late last month. This will be Paris-based Ardians third investment in a base oil industry player, next to oil storage company Gosel and Spains leading transport and oil products company CLH. Ardian said it chose to add LBC to its base oil portfolio due to its value creation potential and strategic locations. LBC represent...

CP Chem Completes PAO Expansion

Chevron Phillips Chemical Co. announced on Monday completion of the low-viscosity polyalphaolefins capacity expansion at its Cedar Bayou plant in Baytown, Texas, adding 20 percent more capacity or about 10,000 metric tons per year. The company previously stated that the Cedar Bayou PAO expansion would raise capacity from 48,000 t/y to 58,000 t/y. Construction began in April 2016 for the expansion, which is to help meet increasing demand for high-performance lubricants in automotive and industria...

Briefly Noted

Marine lubricants supplier Aegean Marine Petroleum Networkannounced June 1 an interim leadership team comprising members of its senior management will oversee its operations and initiatives until a new president is appointed to succeed E. Nikolas Tavlarios, who resigned by mutual agreement with the board of directors and agreed to continue as a consultant to facilitate transition. The Piraeus, Greece-based company is conducting a search process to identify a new president.