Ashland Inc. yesterday announced a management reorganization including the appointment of Valvoline President James J. OBrien to head the parent companys chemical operations. OBrien, who has presided over the motor oil business since 1995, becomes group operating officer for operations that include Ashland Specialty Chemical and Ashland Distribution. He will remain president of Valvoline until a successor is named. David J. DAntoni, the previous group operating officer for chemical operations, w...

Despite an 86 percent drop in third-quarter profits, Pennzoil-Quaker State officials contended that the companys performance is improving after a restructuring earlier this year. Net earnings for the period ending Sept. 30 were $836,000, or 1 cent per share, down from $6.1 million, or 8 cents per share, for the third quarter of 2000. The company noted, however, that results for this years third quarter included $12.1 million in non-recurring after-tax charges and $3.8 million in losses from disc...

Ready or not, Group II and above base stocks are becoming a bigger ingredient for the U.S. grease industry. The trend has less to do with the preferences of grease makers than with overriding forces of the motor oil market, according to PetroTrends Inc. But as the National Lubricating Grease Institute heard last week, producers must adapt their processes to the lower aromatics content of unconventional base stocks. Grease manufactures may not be asking for Group II, PetroTrends Vice President f...

The European Union of Independent Lubricant Companies (UEIL) has filed a complaint against German Volkswagen AG Group, claiming the automaker blocked all but two lubricant companies from supplying a category of lubes for its vehicles. The complaint, filed with the European Commission, states that Volkswagen collaborated with two lubricant companies to develop long-life lubricants and then, in 1999, selected those companies for factory fill of its vehicles. The complaint also alleges that Volkswa...

In a performance that was even more ho-hum than usual, U.S. lubricants consumption was flat in 2000, according to the National Petrochemical and Refiners Associations latest Report on U.S. Lubricating Oil Sales. Demand in the United States, by far the worlds largest lube market, had increased only marginally in recent years – between 1.2 percent and 2.5 percent annually from 1996 to 1999. The report released last week, however, showed that the market would have shrunk in 2000 if not for 2....