HOUSTON – The promise of high quality gas-to-liquids base oils from Qatar has shifted from a shining oasis to a mirage because of reserve depletion and rising costs, the NPRA International Lubricants & Waxes meeting heard last week. Even without GTL base stocks, however, some 65,000 barrels per day of new API Group II and Group III production is anticipated over the next 36 months. Amy Claxton of consultancy My Energy, Hummelstown, Pa., delivered the bad news about GTL to the National...

Five people were killed last week in a massive fire that broke out at a lubricant blending plant in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates. Police reportedly said the blaze began when an oil tank exploded. News reports said the fire destroyed a plant operated by Al Sharq Lubricant Co., along with nearby glass and paper factories. This is the second fire at a Sharjah lube facility in three months. An Aug. 17 fire destroyed a plant operated by Emirates Lube Oil Co., also known as Elco. According to U.A.E....

HOUSTON – REACH (registration, evaluation and authorization of chemicals) legislation that went into force June 1 in Europe requires knowledge of the entire life cycle of a substance, a European Union oil industry association official said at the NPRA International Lubricants & Waxes meeting last week. Chemical manufacturers and importers must be ready to act fast, to meet the narrow preregistration window from June to December next year. You can no longer produce a substance, throw ...

ExxonMobil has sold its 30-percent stake in Saudi Aramco Lubricating Oil Refining Company (Luberef), majority shareholder Saudi Aramco announced yesterday. Jadwa Industrial Development Co., a private business connected to the Saudi royal family, purchased the stake in the joint venture, which operates two base oil plants in Saudi Arabia. Aramco, the worlds largest oil company, owns the other 70 percent of Luberef, which was founded in 1976 as a venture with the former MobilOil Co. Luberef owns p...

Chemical management services supplier Haas TCM on Nov. 1 acquired MC Technologies LLC, which develops and markets workplace chemical safety programs to assist in complying with Occupational Safety and Health Administration hazard communication standards. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. Tucson, Ariz.-based MC Technologies, founded in 2003, has 22 employees. While the company has emphasized the use of its Maxcom system for hazard communication in hospitals and healthcare systems, the ...

Third-quarter financial reports released by Quaker Chemical and Milacron cite both good news and bad news for the industrial lubricant suppliers. While Conshohocken, Pa.-based Quaker Chemical Corp. reported net income of $3.2 million, a 38.5 percent drop from $5.2 million in the third quarter last year, it posted quarterly sales of $140.7 million, up from $116.4 million in the year-ago quarter. Quaker Chemical attributed the increase in its net sales to a combination of volume growth and highe...

Castrol India Ltd. and Volvo Car India on Oct. 31 entered into a strategic partnership whereby all Volvo cars sold in India will be pre-filled with Castrol lubricants. Under the deal, Castrol India will supply its highest quality lubricant product, Castrol Edge, for exclusive service fill to all Volvo dealers in India. Castrol Edge is a premium, high performance, fully synthetic oil in Castrols lineup of motor oils, the company says. Volvo has partnered with Castrol globally and so when we lau...