Volume 6 Issue 50

Citgo Names Lubes Chief

Citgo Petroleum Corp. has named Karl Schmidt as the new general manager of its lubricants division, which produces a full line of engine oils, greases, process oils, fluids and other lubricants. Schmidt will be responsible for the divisions business operations, from base oil manufacturing to finished lubricant marketing. He will also oversee the development and implementation of a new organizational structure and go-to-market strategy. Schmidt spent the balance of his career in operations, corp...

Metals Pricing Fuels Tiarco Price Hike

Tiarco Chemical, a global supplier of specialty extreme pressure and anti wear additives based in Dalton, Ga., announced a price increase effective Jan. 1, 2007, of approximately 10 percent across the board on all its specialty dithiocarbamates for the grease and lubricants industry. Jim Hunt, Tiarco Chemical global sales and marketing director, cited escalation of raw materials as the prime reasons for the hike. The two key primary raw materials impacting the cost of the dithiocarbamates are z...

Aegean Marine IPO Raises $175 Million

Marine lubricant and fuel supplier Aegean Marine Petroleum Networklast Thursday launched its initial public offering of 12.5 million shares of common stock priced at $14 per share, raising $175 million. In addition, the company has granted the underwriters an option to purchase up to an additional 1.875 million shares of common stock at the initial public offering price to cover over-allotments. The companys common stock will be listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol ANW. The sto...

Serbian Lube Firms Draw Multi-million-euro Bids

Competition was fierce in bidding for two Serbian lubes companies that took place last month. The Privatization Agency of the Republic of Serbia on Dec. 6 announced it received tender offers from a variety of bidders Nov. 17 for 70 percent of Fabrika Maziva and for 70 percent of Rafinerija Nafte, as part of the privatization of the two Serbian lubes companies. Public opening of the bids for acquisition of each companys capital took place Dec. 5. The bids included a purchase price, along with a s...

Veolia, Total Team to Recycle Used Oil

Veolia Environnement and Total on Nov. 30 announced the creation of Osilub, a joint venture to develop a sustainable used motor oil recycling business. As part of the initiative, Osilub will build a plant in the northern French city of Grand-Quevilly with capacity to rerefine 120,000 metric tons of used oil per year. The 50 million (U.S. $66.6 million) facility, which is scheduled to open in 2008, will produce mostly the equivalent of vacuum gas oil for further refining into base stock and fuel....

Sales Execs: Whos on Top Come Payday?

Sales and marketing managers who work for U.S. lubricant manufacturing companies earn an average of $114,826 a year, about 34 percent higher than the $85,524 average reported by their counterparts working for lube distributors, according to the latest Lubricants Industry Salary Survey conducted by LubesnGreases magazine. The average sales and marketing manager responding to the 2006 survey is 49.5 years old and has amassed 20.2 years of relevant work experience. He or she supervises an average o...

Make Two Plans for GTL Arrival

JERSEY CITY, N.J. – Close to 80,000 barrels per day of high quality gas-to-liquids derived base stocks may come to market in 2010 as originally announced, or may be delayed until 2015, two consultants said, and every base stock buyer and seller needs two business plans to cope with the sharp differences between those scenarios. Speaking at the ICIS Pan-American Base Oils & Lubricants Conference here on Dec. 1, Amy Claxton, principal of My Energy, Hummelstown, Pa., and William Downey J...