Six years ago, the Society of Automotive Engineers adopted its own version of a U.S. Army standard for gear oils. The document was the centerpiece of an effort to keep alive the internationally recognized specification even as the military retired from administering it. But the SAE standard itself, J2360, was only one piece of the puzzle, and it took some time for the others to fall into place. In fact, it was not until last year that that a subsidiary of the society (since renamed SAE Internati...

Valvolines parent company reported Monday that operating profit for the automotive consumer products supplier rose 33 percent to $20 million for the quarter ended Dec. 31, mostly due to growing sales of premium products. Ashland Inc., which is based in Covington, Ky., said Valvoline had a record performance for the period, the first quarter of its fiscal year, despite the fact that lubricant sales volumes dipped 1.4 percent to 43.7 million gallons. Sales and operating revenue increased 3.2 perce...

Japans biggest lubricant company is grabbing a bigger share of the pie. Nippon Oil Corp. announced Friday that is has signed an agreement to take over Fuji Kosan Co.s lubricant business. Nippon Oil is already the biggest lube supplier in Japan, producing 660,000 kiloliters (584,000 metric tons) annually to claim 26 percent of the market. Fuji Kosan produces 160,000 kiloliters and accounts for 6 percent of the market. A spokesman for Nippon Oil said the oil company, which is based in Tokyo, paid ...

ExxonMobil and Engen announced recently that they have formed a joint venture to sell lubricants in a five-nation region in southern Africa. The agreement, announced Jan. 16, makes Engen the sole marketer and distributor of ExxonMobils lubes in South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Swaziland and Lesotho. In addition to the Esso and Mobil brands, Engen will continue to sell lubes under its own brand name, as well as Petronas Syntium. Engen, based in Cape Town, South Africa, claims 19 percent of the 32...

International Petroleum Products and Additives Co. has selected three distributors — Aspen Chemical Co., Superior Oil Co. and Young Chemical Co. — to market its lubricant additives and specialty chemicals in the United States. IPAC, based in Dublin, Calif., announced last week that it will be represented in the Northeastern and Atlantic seaboard areas by Aspen Chemical Co. of Medford, N.J. Superior Oil Co.,in Indianapolis, Ind.,will represent IPAC in the central and northern Midweste...