A small Virginia-based aftermarket additive supplierhas big plans toventure into the fast-lube and ethanol fuel markets with a planned chain of E85 Quick Lubes.XcelPlus says it will start acquiring fast-lube centers in the Midwest this month, where it will adapt vehicles to use E85 ethanol fuel and promote a planned line of E85 motor oils. In February, XcelPlus became the U.S. and Canadian distributor for Flextek systems, an ethanol conversion kit made in Brazil. E85 ethanol fuel is 85 percent e...

China included lubricants in the list of petroleum products hit with a consumption tax on April 1 and adopted a new tax of 20 to 40 percent on domestic crude sold for more than U.S. $40 per barrel. Observers say the windfall tax on crude is part of the countrys effort to overhaul oil pricing and will prompt price increases for refined products, including base oils. In mid-March, Chinas Ministry of Finance announced a consumption tax on various wood products, luxury items and certain oil-based pr...

Lyondell Chemical Co. and Citgo Petroleum Corp. agreed last week to sell the Lyondell-Citgo Refining LP partnership that operates a refinery in Houston with crude oil processing capacity of 268,000 barrels per day. The facility includes a base oil plant with capacity to make 1,000 b/d of API Group II and 3,600 b/d of naphthenic base stocks. Asked if the base oil plant will be upgraded or closed or otherwise impacted by the proposed sale, Lyondell spokesman David Harpole said, There are no plans...

Feedstock shortages and unplanned refinery shutdowns underlie todays shortage of API Group I base stocks in Europe, and supply is likely to remain tight for at least the next six months, according to an industry expert. Higher prices for Group I are here to stay, and supply disruptions may be inevitable until gas-to-liquid base stocks come on-stream after 2009. R. David Whitby, chief executive of consultancy Pathmaster Marketing Ltd., told the United Kingdom Lubricants Association Base Oil Confe...

After nearly two years of planning, the Independent Lubricant Manufacturers Association is putting the finishing touches on an ambitious program to test members engine oils and, in cooperation with other industry groups, wants to expand bulk oil monitoring. ILMA plans to implement its testing program Jan. 1, 2007. The goal is to improve quality, ILMAs legal counsel, Jeffrey L. Leiter, told Lube Report. There is oil out there that is misrepresented, so legitimate folks are hurt. A lot is perceive...

For over a decade, Ford Motor Co. has licensed its trademarked Mercon automatic transmission fluid for the service-fill marketplace. Last week, the automaker announced it is going to retire that specification, in a move designed to encourage the lubricants industry to embrace its replacement, the stringent Mercon V spec. Speaking April 4 in Dearborn, Mich., to the SAE Technical Committee 3 on ATF, Gear Oils and Greases, Fords Chintan Ved announced that effective July 1, no new Mercon licenses wi...