Citgo Petroleum Corp. announced Dec. 19 that it has completed its purchase of Conocos 35 percent stake in their Cit-Con Oil Corp. joint venture. The companies did not disclose the price of the sale, which gives Citgo 100 percent ownership of the alliances base oil and wax refinery in Lake Charles, La. The plant has capacity to produce 9,600 barrels per day of Group I base stock and 2,000 b/d of wax. As an extension of Citgos Lake Charles Manufacturing Complex, it will now be referred to as the l...

Rhodia announced Friday that it sold its metal organics division, including its grease thickening business, to metal-based specialty chemical manufacturer OM Group Inc. Cleveland, Ohio-based OMG said the deal would expand its international presence and – because the transaction included factories in Bethlehem, Pa., and Manchester, U.K. – increase its manufacturing capabilities. But the company added that it may yet spin off part of what it purchased. Its too early to say, Director of...

Valero Energy Corp. and Ultramar Diamond Shamrock announced last week that the U.S. Federal Trade Commission has approved their merger and that they plan to close on the deal Monday. Valero will be the surviving company. Motivated mostly fuels concerns, the union also combines Diamond Shamrocks production of naphthenic base oils with Valeros paraffinic business. Officials said, however, that those components will operate the same after the merger as they did before. The merger doesnt do much for...

In the midst of a 264,000-gallon recall of Aeroshell aviation engine oil, Equilon Lubricants LLC says contaminated fluid poses no risk to air traveler safety and only slight potential for premature equipment wear. The company said it has already recovered or accounted for more than 70 percent of the oils covered by its Nov. 26 recall in the United States, most of which never left its warehouses. Officials said that most of the unaccounted-for volume is probably not contaminated and that even tha...