NORFOLK, Va. – Earlier this month, at the conclusion of ASTMs Subcommittee B on Automotive Lubricants meeting here, Caterpillar Inc.s Abdul Cassim surprised the group with the announcement that his company soon will introduce two new heavy-duty engine oil specifications, called ECF-2 and ECF-3. In addition, CAT for the first time will have a registration system for products meeting the new specifications. ECF stands for Engine Crankcase Fluid, and the two new specifications are upgrades to...

Petro-Canada announced last week that it will debottleneck its base oil plant in Mississauga, Ontario, next year. The company did not reveal details of the project, but outside sources said it plans to increase the plants capacity for Group II-plus and Group III oils by 4,000 barrels per day. Lubricant blenders said the project is good news because demand-supply balances for Group II-plus and Group III oils are tight. However many barrels they can add, Im sure the market will welcome it, said on...

General Motors 2005 model year vehicles equipped with Engine Oil Life Systems averaged 8,500 miles between oil changes, compared to the 5,000 mile drain interval typical of GMs competitors. This will bring annual savings of 6.6 million gallons of oil and $145 million for the owners of those vehicles, according to GM. However, creating these longer-drain engine oils and fill-for-life transmission fluids and axle lubes will require Group II, II-plus or Group III base oils. Michael McMillan, MLM Co...

ITW Rocol North America added to its stable of machining lubricants this month when parent company Illinois Tool Works purchased Metal Mates Inc., a manufacturer of water-based stamping and forming fluids. ITW described Metal Mates as an attractive extension of its business. The Glenview, Ill., company already owns Cedar Lubricants, a line of oil-based stamping and forming lubes, along with lines of coolants, tapping fluids, aqueous cleaners and environmentally safe lubricants for near-dry machi...

Canadian lubricant blender Commonwealth Oil Co. announced this month its plan to sell its electrical discharge machining fluid business, the biggest producer of those fluids in North America. The company said it will now focus on other opportunities in the metalworking fluids and industrial lubricant market. A privately owned manufacturer based in Harrow, Ontario, Commonwealth declined to disclose financial data about Commonwealth Electrical Discharge Machining Fluid Co. (CEDMFC), a subsidiary f...

Investment firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. won European Union approval yesterday for its billion-dollar acquisition of FL Selenia SpA, which claims to be Europes largest independent marketer of automotive lubricants. KKR announced last month an agreement to buy Selenia from another New York-based private equity firm, Vestar Capital Partners, for 835 million (U.S. $1 billion). Selenia Chief Executive Officer Aldino Bellazzini told Lube Report the deal will not affect the companys daily ope...