The worlds largest naphthenic base oil supplier has gained a foothold in the United States – but not out of a desire to expand in that market. AB Nynas Petroleum announced Monday that it has entered a long-term agreement to purchase all of the naphthenic capacity at Valero Energy Corp.s base oil plant in Three Rivers, Texas. As part of the deal, Valero agrees to invest approximately $10 million to upgrade and expand the plant. Rumors have circulated the past few months that Nynas was tryin...

Probex Corp. filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection May 13, ending its nine-year effort to set a new standard in base oil rerefining. The Addison, Texas, company said it made the filing in order to conduct an orderly sell-off of assets. Probex had been planning for four years to build a rerefining plant in Wellsville, Ohio, but failed in a yearlong effort to obtain $100 million in financing. Officials maintained this week that the project was sound, saying it was foiled by a poor market for p...

Fuchs Petrolub AG Thursday reported a 32 percent jump in its first-quarter profit, due primarily to cost-cutting and lower taxes and interest expense. The Mannheim, Germany, lubricant company had net income of Euro 5.8 million (U.S. $6.8 million) during the first three months of 2003, compared to Euro 4.4 million during the same period of 2002. Sales revenue dippednearly 1percent to Euro 263.4 million, although the decline was the result of currency translation, which cost the company Euro 21.3 ...

Specialty chemicals producer Cognis announced that it is building a plant in Jacarei, Brazil, to produce polyol ester refrigeration oils. The company, which is headquartered in Dusseldorf, Germany, declined to disclose the size or cost of the new facility but said it is scheduled to start up during the fourth quarter of this year. The refrigeration lubes, which are sold under the ProEco brand name, are used in small reciprocal compressors in domestic refrigerators and air conditioners. Brazil is...