ExxonMobil announced last week that it will close its Adelaide Refinery in South Australia, a step that will take Australia from a net surplus to a net deficit of base oils. The refining complex, located at Port Stanvac on the continents southern coast, includes a Group I base oil refinery with capacity to produce 6,500 barrels per day, making it by far the largest of Australias three base oil sources. An official for Mobil Australia, ExxonMobils subsidiary in the region, said it will import ba...

ChevronTexaco Corp. closed down its Gulf Lubricants business this month, two years after launching it as an economy brand. A cost-saving product line might seem well-positioned for the downside of a business cycle, but ChevronTexaco blamed the lackluster economy for its decision to axe Gulf. We were successful in reintroducing the brand, spokesperson Nicole Hodgson said yesterday. But because of the current economic environment, the company decided it would be better off focusing that attention ...

Fuchs Petrolub AG yesterday reported record net income of Euro 24.1 million (U.S. $26.4 million) in 2002 – an increase of 173 percent from 2001, thanks mainly to consolidation of its former joint venture in Germany. In addition to the increased profit, Fuchs recorded sales growth of 13.3 percent – to Euro 1.07 billion – and an improvement in operating margins. The Mannheim, Germany, company noted that its year-end results stood in sharp contrast to the global lubricants industr...

Idemitsu Kosan Co.s lubricant portfolio for Japan is chlorine-free after the company removed the element from its cutting fluids last month. The Tokyo-based conglomerate is the first lubricant supplier in Japan to forsake the element. Officials said the company has worked for more than a decade to cease its use of chlorine. They predicted that other suppliers will work to at least reduce chlorine content in their own products. For improvement of the environment, we sincerely hope that other oil ...

A Gateway Additive Co. plant in Detroit was knocked out of operation by a fire April 8. No one was injured in the blaze, which began shortly after 7 p.m. The manufacturing facility was largely destroyed but a warehouse across the street was undamaged. A spokesman with Gateway parent Lubrizol Corp. said the company was striving to minimize disruption to customers, although a solution to maintain supplies was still being developed. We expect there will be only limited interruption in our ability t...