HOUSTON – Traditionally a net exporter of base oils, the United States in the past two years has moved closer to balance in the volumes it imports and exports, according to a presentation given here Friday during an industry meeting. Speaking at the National Petrochemical and Refiners Association’s annual Lubricants and Waxes Meeting, Lithcon Petroleums Joe Rousmaniere said base oil exports have grown significantly the past two years as U.S. blenders consumed increasing amounts of AP...

HOUSTON – The next passenger car motor oil upgrade will leave the U.S. base oil market with a 10,000-barrel-per-day deficit of API Group II base oils by the end of this decade, an industry insider told an audience Thursday at the National Petrochemical and Refiners Associations Lubricant and Waxes Meeting. Over the same time frame, predicted thesame individual, who happens to be an official with a Group I supplier,the U.S. will develop a Group I surplus of more than 32,000 b/d. Those proje...

DANA POINT, Calif. — Lubricating grease manufacturing is an energy-intensive, multi-phase effort, beginning with a tricky saponification step in a heated reactor, or “kettle,” then blending base oil and additives into the resultant hot soap, and finally moving to homogenizers or mills to temper the grease into a glossy dispersion. Attendees of the NLGI International’s Annual Meeting here in early November got a glimpse into a new grease technology which has the potential,...

Fuchs Petrolub AG announced Monday that its profit through the first nine months of 2004 was up 31.7 percent from the same period of last year, thanks to wide-ranging growth and focus on specialty products. The Mannheim, Germany, company – the worlds largest independent lubricant blender – said sales revenues for the first three quarters of the year rose 5.8 percent to 831 million (U.S. $1.1 billion). The growth extended to every major geographical region. Sales climbed 5.6 percent ...