Volume 5 Issue 36

In Katrina's Wake, Painful Recovery

As New Orleans began its long road to recovery from Hurricane Katrina, there were still no timetables yesterday for the return of an important lubricant additive plant and a terminal for imported Group III base oils. Officials at Chevron Oronite said reopening of the companys Belle Chasse, La., additive plant depends on infrastructure such as roads that must be reopened and electrical power that must be restored – and that they did not know when those things would happen. ConocoPhillips sa...

Who Dominates in Synthetic Stocks?

Experts say that nonconventional base stocks– meaning every kind except traditional solvent-refined mineral oils — account for less than 10 percent of the world’s lubricants. Volumes for these high-value materials tend to be measured in pounds, not barrels, and the top dogs are nearly always chemical companies rather than oil refiners. This makes each specialty its own exclusive club. That was graphically demonstrated in Lubes’n’Greases‘ Nonconventional Base S...

Total Buys Bigger Footprint in Africa

Total has agreed to buy ExxonMobils lubricants and fuels business in 14 African countries for an undisclosed amount, the companies announced Monday. Total said the acquisition reflected its intent to expand on the continent. The deal covers ExxonMobil affiliates that sell lubricants, motor fuels and aviation and marine petroleum products in Chad, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Sierra Leone, Togo, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Combined, the affiliates h...

ConocoPhillips Unveils White Oils, Food-grades

ConocoPhillips last week launched a new line of white oils and food-grade lubricants to be marketed under its Conoco, Phillips 66 and 76 brand names. The new products include five viscosity grades of white oils and six grades of food machinery oils. Sales of existing white oils and food machinery oils will be discontinued. Walt Silveira, lubricants director for industrial products said the company decided to offer the expanded line to take advantage of huge growth opportunities in the food proce...