Just as polyolefin producer Basell and chemical manufacturer Huntsman Corp. seemed destined for marriage, thermoset resins producer Hexion Specialty Chemicals has interrupted their plans with a separate acquisition proposal for Huntsman. Hexion, owned by an affiliate of Apollo Management L.P., sent Huntsman a proposal last week to acquire all its outstanding common stock for $10.4 billion, or $27.25 per share in cash. On Monday, Hexion sweetened the pot to $10.5 billion, or $28 per share. Basel...

Whelan Refining Ltd. took key steps towards reopening a refurbished base oil refinery in northwest England expected to process about 50,000 metric tons of waste oil annually to produce 35,000 tons of Group I base oils. The company – of Stoke on Trent, England – received its Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control permit from the United Kingdoms Environment Agency on June 26. Whelan said it has also completed more than 2 million (U.S. $2.7 million) of engineering work on schedule...

Third Coast Chemicals Inc. has purchased Lyondell Chemical Co.s brake fluid business for an undisclosed amount. The agreement between Equistar Chemicals LP (a Lyondell company) and Third Coast went into effect July 1, and the two companies expect a two-month transition period. The agreement announced Thursday includes a long-term contract between the two companies for supply of brake fluid raw materials from Equistars Bayport Underwood glycol ether production facility in Bayport, Texas. It was...

Petrobras recently completed the sale of all the shares of its Petrobras Bolivia Refinacin S.A. subsidiary for $112 million – including a 540 b/d Group I base oil plant in Cochabamba – to YPFB (Yacimientos Petroliferos Fiscales Bolivianos), the state-owned oil company of Bolivia. The company will also discontinue manufacturing and marketing of the Lubrax-branded lubricants line, which in 2006 had a domestic market share in Bolivia of 27 percent. In December 1999, Brazilian national...

Ashland Inc. and Cargill, as part of the joint venture the companies are forming to produce biobased chemicals, on Monday announced they have licensed a new technology from Davy Process Technology Ltd. for use in converting glycerin to propylene glycol. Well be taking their technology, combining it with proprietary technology that Cargill and Ashland have, and producing propylene glycol with higher yields and fewer by-products than other options that weve looked at, Cargill spokesman Bill Brady...

WD-40 Co. on Monday said its net sales for the third quarter, ended May 31, totaled $77.6 million, up 6.2 percent over 2006s third quarter, while net income rose 8.5 percent, compared to the year-earlier period, to $7.6 million. Earnings per share in the third quarter reached 44 cents, compared to 42 cents during the same quarter a year ago, a 5 percent increase. Cost of goods during the third quarter was 47.5 percent of sales compared to 48.5 percent in the period last year, the San Diego-base...