Indian Oil Corp. Ltd. last month launched a promotion to provide personal accident insurance to purchasers of its Servo brand motor oils. The campaign, which began in the state of West Bengaland is now spreading to other areas, offers a one-year policy carrying Rupee 100,000 (U.S. $2,082) of coverage for each 20-liter purchase. By making repeated purchases, customers can accumulate maximum coverage of Rupee 1 million. The company expects the offer to be popular with truck drivers, as well as mec...

With approval of the next generation of heavy-duty engine oils apparently imminent, the first products could hit the market as early as next month. These new oils target the needs of low-emission diesel engines equipped with exhaust gas recirculation. ExxonMobil’s Steve Kennedy, chairman of the American Petroleum Institute’s New Category Development Team for PC-9, as the proposed oil is now called, reported to API’s Lubricants Committee on Nov. 5 that progress toward completing...

Large portions of the worlds base oil market are, according to William R. Downey Jr., ripe for change. And it is a safe bet, he maintains, that petroleum industry mergers will continue causing upheaval in those markets. There are certainly going to be more changes that affect base oils, the Kline and Co. vice president told Lube Report this week. But its difficult to predict how they will affect base oils because at least some of them will be driven by upstream interests. They may or may not be ...

Automakers have again requested a revamped engine oil development process — one where they hold all the reins in setting needs, deadlines and limits — and are asking the American Petroleum Institute to respond before year’s end. The International Lubricant Standardization and Approval Committee (ILSAC), which represents U.S. and Japanese automobile and diesel engine manufacturers, first presented its bid to change the oil development process almost a year ago. It did so because...