It has taken Simons Petroleum Inc. more than half a century and a lot of organic growth to become one of the biggest oil jobbers in the United States. It plans to take the acquisition route to get to the top of the heap in a much bigger hurry. Simons, which is based in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, announced this month that it and three private equity firms have formed a partnership that is geared for an aggressive buying spree. Officials said they plan to acquire half a dozen companies over the next...

BP announced last week that it intends to close its 7,000 barrel-per-day Coryton base oil plant in Essex, U.K., by the end of 2005 to allow its refinery there to concentrate on production of fuels. The base oil plant produces Group I stocks and employs 200 people. Officials said the decision to cease operations was aided by the fact that Europe has surplus base oil capacity and because the equipment at the Essex plant was becoming outdated. Much of the equipment used in the lubricants facility i...

The calendar year started off on a good note for two lubricant industry heavies. Lubrizol Corp. reported last week that it had a profit of $37.5 million during the first quarter of 2004, up 44 percent from the same period of 2003. Valvoline parent company Ashland Inc. said meanwhile that the automotive consumer products marketer generated operating income of $24 million for thequarter ended March 31, a jump of 33 percent. Credit for the improvement in Lubrizols performance went primarily to the ...

Akzo Nobel announced Monday that it has agreed to sell its Phosphorus Chemicals business to private equity firm Ripplewood Holdings LLC for Euro 230 million (U.S. $274 million). The unit is one of North Americas primary sources of phosphate esters forlubricants, among other products. The companies said they expect the deal to close during the second quarter. Akzo Nobel, which is based in Arnhem, Netherlands, put the business up for sale in September. Ripplewood, of New York City, said it expects...