Lucas Oil Products turned a lot of heads last week with the announcement that it has purchased rights to name the future home of the National Football Leagues Indianapolis Colts. The companys founder plans to use that kind of attention as a springboard to become a major player in the U.S. motor oil market. Lucas and the Colts announced March 1 that the fuel and oil additive supplier agreed to pay $122 million over 20 years to attach its identity to the $500 million stadium, which is under constr...

LONDON – Western European lubricant demand shrank 1.5 percent from 2004 to 2005 according to Fuchs Petrolub AG, while lube demand grew by 1.5 percent in Central and Eastern Europe. Despite Western Europes historic role as a base oil exporter, the overall regions base oil surplus is predicted to shrink by more than 25 percent over the next dozen years. Apu Gosalia, head of the strategic marketing department at Fuchs Petrolub in Mannheim, Germany, presented an overview of Europes lubricant a...

Relief is coming for users of maleic anhydride, but it will be a while before it arrives. Chemical manufacturer Huntsman Corp. said last week that it plans to build a maleic anhydride plant in Geismar, La., with capacity to make 100 million pounds per year. The company said it is trying to move quickly to accommodate growing demand, butthe plant will not open until the third quarter of 2008. Maleic anhydride is used in a number of industries, including lubricant additives where it serves as a pr...

The worlds biggest Group III base oil producer intends to grow a bit bigger this spring. SK Corp. plans to increase capacity of a plant in Ulsan, South Korea, by 2,100 barrels per day during a maintenance turnaround scheduled to begin in April. The expansion to one of two plants at Ulsan will boost overall capacity to 19,700 b/d. Officials said about three-fourths of the expansion will be Group III barrels, the rest Group II. The general manager of SKs Base Oils Business Team said the plant was ...

Seemingly shielded from the storms that have roiled the lubricant industry, Fuchs Petrolub AG said last week that its profits jumped approximately 50 percent in 2005. The Mannheim, Germany, company is the worlds largest independent lube company. Fuchs reported Thursday that preliminary data showed it raking in after-tax earnings of 74.2 million (U.S. $88.2 million) in 2005, up from 48.7 million in 2004. Last years bottom line benefited from a 6.4 million profit from a land sale. Even without tha...

HONG KONG – Todays additive shortages are real and are part of a long-term structural change, according to Afton Chemical President C.S. Warren Huang. While additive companies may engage in minor regional investments, especially in the Asia Pacific region, Huang warned last week that there may be no significant new capacity for eight to 10 years. Low return on investment and slow-to-no demand growth make any major lubricant additive investment unlikely. Huang told the Fuels & Lubes Asi...