The Lubrizol Corp. and GE Transportation Systems have dissolved a 16-month-old joint venture aimed at developing fluid monitoring and fluid management services for railroad, mining and other applications. The companies did not explain their decision to undo GE Lubrizol LLC, except to say they decided to pursue their respective market objectives independently. Officials maintained, however, that the short-lived alliance was productive. The ventures market trials successfully demonstrated our abil...

Lubricant demand in Western Europe declined slightly in 2000, as a decrease in consumption of automotive products outweighed growth in the industrial segment, according to a report by EuropaLub. The bottom line was a further reduction in the portion of the regional market claimed by automotive lubricants. Those products now account for 49 percent of total demand, said the report, which was presented last month to UEIL (the European Union of Independent Lubricant Companies). The report also showe...

The newly proposed merger of Phillips Petroleum Co. and Conoco Inc. would combine a broad range of lubricants assets and operations. But the different histories of those operations, analysts say, make it difficult to predict the direction that the combined lubes business might take. The deal, announced Sunday, would create a company with market value of $35 billion. Phillips would spend approximately $15.2 billion on a stock swap and would assume roughly $8 billion in debt. Like most petroleum i...