Nebraska-based Warren Distribution Inc. last month announced plans to build its third lubricant blending plant – a 250,000-square-foot facility along the Ohio River in northern West Virginia. We have customers in that part of the country, and we can serve them better if we have manufacturing facilities in that area, Board Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Robert N. Schlott told Lube Report. Weve had good growth the last several years, and this is necessary to continue that growth. Warre...

Fourth-quarter revenue reached $1 billion at Lubrizol Corp., setting a record for the Wickliffe, Ohio, based specialty chemical company. The final quarter’s strong performance, as well as a full year of owning Noveon International brought the company’s revenues for all of 2005 to $4 billion, a gain of 30 percent over 2004’s revenue (which only included seven months of results from Noveon). Earnings for the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2005, reached $32.1 million, the company announce...

Calumet Specialty Products Partners LP declared its initial public stock offering a success last week. Now the company is moving forward with its next capital project – an expansion at its Shreveport, La., refinery that should increase base oil capacity by approximately 2,000 barrels per day. The Indianapolis-based company sold 6.5 million shares of common stock Jan. 26. The shares sold for $21.50 per share, the mid-point of the $20.50-$22.50 range predicted for the offering ahead of time....

An already-struggling U.S. base oil industry absorbed yet another blow last week when an explosion halted production at the Excel Paralubes joint venture. Co-owner ConocoPhillips declared force majeure and imposed allocations as stringent as 32 percent. Its partner, Flint Hills Resources, declined to comment about its status, but market sources said the accident redoubled the scramble for scarce barrels. This is a big problem for the market, said one base oil buyer, who spoke on condition that h...