Chevron Oronite said last week that it has completed repairs at its Oak Point plant in Belle Chasse, La., and that the facility has sustained full-scale operations for the first time since Hurricane Katrina. The plant still faces transportation issues, but the completion of repairs is a big step toward alleviating what may be the largest of the many disruptions that have stricken the U.S. lubricants industry in recent months. At the same time, Oronite said a force majeure declaration remains in ...

A third South Korean refiner is preparing to join the base oil business. GS Caltex is finalizing plans to build a 15,000-barrel-per-day plant at its oil refinery in Yeosu, an official told Lube Report this week. The company aims to begin operating the plant by the end of 2007. Known until March as LG Caltex Oil, GS Caltex blends and markets lubricants but currently does not produce base oil. It has had ample opportunity to view the success of fellow South Korean companies, SK Corp. and S-Oil Cor...

Chevron Products Co. said last week that its blending plant in Port Arthur, Texas, has resumed production following repairs of damage caused by Hurricane Rita. Further repairs are still needed at the plant, the companys largest in the United States. In addition, officials said Chevrons lubricant business in North America has eased some of the allocations imposed previously on finished lubes and attributed to supply chain disruptions. The Port Arthur blending plant restarted Oct. 20, making finis...

Valvolines profit for fiscal 2005 fell 14 percent from a year ago due to a combination of slower lubricant sales and higher raw material costs, parent company Ashland Inc. reported Monday in a preliminary year-end statement. The automotive consumer products marketer posted operating income of$90 million for the 12 months ended Sept. 30, down from $105 million for its fiscal 2004. Total sales revenue rose a modest 2.2 percent to $1.3 billion, but sales volumes for the companys core lubricants bus...