Russian petroleum joint venture TNK-BP has reached an agreement to buy out ChevronTexacos stake in TNK & Texaco Lubricants Co., the companies announced Friday. ChevronTexaco said it will now go it alone in Russias lubricant market. ChevronTexacos exit from the five-year-old joint venture came as little surprise in the wake of last years hook-up between BP and TNK, Russias third-largest oil company. Moscow-based TNK-BP already has extensive exploration and production operations, along with a...

The American Petroleum Institute gave the thumbs-up May 30 to the launch of a robust new gasoline engine oil category, API SM. Its Lubricants Committee voted by a wide margin to begin licensing the new oils four months from that date, on Sept. 30. Even so, a surprisingly sharp debate arose around the issue just a few days later, when the Lubricants Committee gathered in Cincinnati for its regular semi-annual meeting. Although the committee twice had voted that first licensing could begin four mo...

Cognis Deutschland GmbH has opened a facility in Jacarei, Brazil, to produce polyol ester refrigeration fluids. Officials said the German specialty chemical company built the facility to serve large refrigeration and freezer compressor manufacturers in Brazil. We have one customer and one potential customer in that market – both of which are very, very large manufacturers, said Scott Gustafson, global segment manager in Cincinnati for Cognis refrigeration Synlubes technology. We would like...

Container manufacturer BWAY Corp. has reached an agreement to buy North American Packaging Corp., the companies announced last week. Nampac claims to be the largest U.S. producer of plastic containers for the lubricants industry. The companies did not disclose terms of the deal, which they expect to complete in 30 days. BWAY officials said the acquisition would help meet growth goals and help diversify a company that has focused more on steel containers. Nampac, which is based in Raleigh, N.C., ...

Lubrizol Corp. announced last week that it has closed on its $1.8 billion acquisition of chemical maker Noveon International Inc. The Wickliffe, Ohio, additive supplier also announced a new corporate structure that largely maintains existing management responsibilities. The deal closed Thursday, just seven weeks after it was announced. Lubrizol, which was already the worlds largest supplier of lubricant additive packages, has grown by 60 percent to become a chemical company that had combined sal...