LC Group of Philadelphia has acquired 100 percent of the stock in Crowley Chemical and Crowley Tar Products Inc. for an undisclosed price. Products made by Crowley Chemical, which is headquartered in New York City and operates plants in Ohio and Oklahoma, include a metalworking fluid and a terpolymer for grease making. Bill Callahan, president of LC Group, will become chief executive officer of both companies. Bill Jennings, the previous majority owner, will remain with the companies in his curr...

Wilmerding, Pa.-based lubes blender Allegheny Petroleum Products has expanded, acquiring a distributor in Indiana. Allegheny plans to continue growing its industrial lube sales in the Midwest. Allegheny acquired distributor Wilder Oil and its 200,000-gallon distribution facility in Evansville, Ind., effective Jan. 1. He was a distribution point for us, and he wanted to retire so we bought him out, said Allegheny Petroleum Vice President Jim Kudis. Terms of the sale were not disclosed. Kudis said...

Ineos Oligomers will invest $4.5 million in structures and equipment for its Whiting, Ind. polybutene plant soit can reach its full, rated annual capacity of 110,000 metric tons, a company official told Lube Report. Its all logistics – racks, unloading equipment, rail structures and putting in unloading facilities, said Joe Palm, market manager, PIB Americas for Ineos Oligomers, part of League City, Texas-based Ineos USA. The company, which announced the investment plans last Friday, expec...

Graham Packaging Co. recently announced plans to close its manufacturing plant in North Charleston, S.C., effective in mid-February. The plants 23 employees will receive severance based on their years of service. Graham Packaging said its plant produced automotive lubricant bottles for a customer that has moved its operation, andfuture production of the bottles will be transferred to the companys other sites. A spokesman for the company told Lube Report it would not reveal the name of the custom...

French lubricants company Motul has acquired a 30 percent stake in Vietnam Lubricants and Chemicals Joint Stock Corp. (Vilube), which a Motul official said gives the company access to the Vietnams rapidly expanding lube oil market. Motul has had a set-up in Singapore – a toll blending agreement – for about six years, Motul Executive Vice President Yves Junne told Lube Report. Most markets were covered so far, in one way or another, but not Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. Junne said Motul...