Volume 1 Issue 11

Saudis to Build LAO Plant

Saudi Basic Industries Corp. announced that it has co-developed a linear alpha olefin technology that will be the basis for a 150,000-metric-ton plant scheduled to open by 2005. The facility, to be built in Saudi Arabia on the coast of the Persian Gulf, is the seventh linear alpha olefin (LAO) project scheduled to open during the next four years. Those projects would have capacity to increase current LAO production by 40 percent. Still, at least one analyst said that another plant appears to mak...

Lubrizol Sees Profits in Motor Sports

HOUSTON — Motor sports arent just for fun, at least not for Lubrizol Corp. An official with the Cleveland, Ohio, additive maker told the National Petrochemical & Refiners Association last week that the company believes it can do a profitable business in racing lubricants, even though the segment is small and holds few lessons for the larger consumer market. This is a small sector of the lubricant market, Executive Director of Global Accounts Andres Serrano said during a Nov. 8 presenta...

GTL to Challenge Premium Base Oils

HOUSTON — Gas-to-liquids base oils may be a long time coming to the lubricants industry. They still have obstacles to overcome, such as large capital requirements and weak demand for their attributes. In fact, as the National Petrochemical and Refiners Association heard last week, another decade may pass before gas-to-liquids (GTL) products claim a significant portion of the base oil market. But there is little doubt that GTL stocks are coming, a panel of speakers agreed. And when they arr...