Chinese oil giant Sinopec announced last week that it has finished upgrading its Gaoqiao base oil plant and expects this month to begin making Group II base oils there. The plant will be the biggest premium base oil producer in China, with capacity to make 5,800 barrels per day of Group II and Group III stocks. In an Aug. 24 announcement in its own newspaper, China Petrochemical News, Sinopec said the new oils will help meet rising demands for quality in the Chinese finished lubricant market. It...

In an effort to address engine problems caused by oil sludge, Volkswagen of America recently extended warranty coverage on two models of turbocharged cars, news reports say. According to Automotive News and the Wall Street Journal, the U.S. subsidiary of the German automaker has mailed letters to owners of approximately 425,000 Volkswagen Passats and Audi A4s equipped with 1.8-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engines. The company sent the letters after receiving complaints of components malfunct...

Cargill Industrial Oils and Lubricants will take over productionof a soybean-based transformer oil developed by Cooper Power Systems, under the terms of a new agreement between the two companies. Cargill said it will cease production of its competing dielectric fluid, BioTrans, in order to devote enough capacity to the Cooper product. Cooper Power Systems, a manufacturer of electrical distribution equipment, is pitching Envirotemp FR3 as more effective and ecologically safer than traditional die...