Polyolefin producer Basell will acquire chemical manufacturer Huntsman Corp. for $9.6 billion, the two companies announced yesterday, a combination that creates one of the largest chemical companies in the world. Lubricant and fuel additives are key applications for Huntsmans Jeffamine-brand polyetheramines. They are used as carrier oils, detergents and dispersing agents in lubricant and fuel compositions. Under the agreements terms, Basell will acquire all of the outstanding common stock of H...

Shell (China) Ltd. plans to build a lubricants blending plant with 200 million liters (52 million gallons) per year capacity that will open in 2009 in southern China, while expanding capacity at several other existing blending plants in the country. The company on Friday said it will eventually increase the plants annual capacity to 400 million liters, making it one of the top three lubricants blending plants in the Shell lubricants network worldwide. The facility will blend a wide variety of lu...

Total said last week that it has begun a basic engineering study for the installation of equipment that would add 180,000 metric tons per year of Group III base oil capacity to its refinery in Gonfreville, France. The study marks a step forward in a project that has been much anticipated but long delayed. Total spokeswoman Bertille Aron told Lube Report last week that the company recently began studying the possibility of adding a catalytic dewaxing unit that would process hydrocracker bottoms i...

Finnish trading company Telko Group has acquired Molub-Alloy AB, the Swedish distributor of BP/Castrol industrial lubricants, in Telkos first move into the international lubricants business. Under the terms of the deal, the industrial lubricant distributor will merge into the Telko Group in Sweden. The parties have also agreed to engage in cooperation in northwestern Russia. Both partnerships – the business acquisition and cooperation agreement – are a sign of Telkos new growth strat...

Haas TCM will serve as primary subcontractor and handle logistics for a $6.25 billion, five-year contract SAIC won in May from the U.S. Defense Logistics Agency for privatization of storage, warehousing and distribution of packaged petroleum, oils and lubricants as well as certain chemicals. Under the privatization contract, tasks once performed by the Defense Logistics Agency will now be performed by SAIC and its subcontractors. Customers include the U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and...

ExxonMobil Chemical has completed a debottleneck project at its specialties plant in Edison, N.J., to raise capacity to produce alkylated naphthalene blend stocks by 40 percent. Alkylated naphthalenes are API Group V category fluids that are manufactured through the alkylation of naphthalene with olefins. ExxonMobil Chemical claims that the products offer improved hydrolytic, thermal and oxidative stability versus other Group V fluids, and can improve the performance of a variety of finished lub...

Intermediate bulk container (IBC) manufacturer Hoover Materials Handling Group Inc. announced last week the opening of its state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Houston that will produce over 1,000 units per month. The 220,000-square foot complex implements the latest robotic technology in the manufacture of IBCs, their spare parts and accessories. Equipment-wise, [it will] make a better tank, make them faster, with more quality, said Courtney Carstens, marketing communications manager at ...