Ultra Additives and a Texas-based fuels and lubes marketer announced the appointment of new distributors last week. Ultra, a Bloomfield, New Jersey-based subsidiary of German chemical company Munzing Chemie GmbH, named Northspec Chemical Corp. to carry its specialty additives for lubricants, paints, coatings and other industries in Canada. Northspec is based in Toronto. VP Racing Fuels, of San Antonio, Texas, appointed Van De Pol Enterprises bulk master distributor for central and northern Calif...

Chevron Oronite Co. announced last week that it has named Andy Tugendhat vice president of sales. The additive company described Tugendhat as a key figurein itsrecovery from a year when its business was disrupted by a series of problems. A March accident at its plant in Singapore killed one worker and forced operations at the facility to cut back for months. In August, the company issued a force majeure declaration, saying it could not meet contractual obligations because of increased demand an...

U.S. lubricant sales volumes in the third quarter of 2005 fell 3.4 percent compared to the same period of 2004, according to the latest data from the National Petrochemical and Refiners Association. The associations Quarterly Index on Lubricant Sales, released Jan. 12, showed volumes for the third quarter falling across all major sectors of the market, reversing a slight uptick for the second quarter. The market has now see-sawed between decline and growth for seven consecutive quarters. The lat...

Valero Energy Corp.s Paulsboro, N.J., base oil plant is in line to join the list of Group I producers that have closed in recent years. Officials say the 11,500-barrels-per-day plant will exit the base oil business, though probably not until 2007 at the earliest. A company spokeswoman told Lube Report yesterday that the plant will stop making base oils in order to boost the profitability of the overall Paulsboro refinery. The company first stated its intention last month at an energy industry co...