Takreer, Neste Oil andOMV have formed a joint venture to build a plant to produce 500,000 metric tons per year (about 10,000 barrels per day, according to Neste) of sulfur-free, very high viscosity index API Group III base oil in Ruwais, Abu Dhabi. Abu Dhabi, on the Persian Gulf,is one of the seven emirates making up the United Arab Emirates. The joint venturewill be owned 60 percent by Abu Dhabi’s Takreer and 20 percent each by Espoo, Finland-based Neste Oil and Vienna, Austria-headquarte...

A Sunoco official yesterday confirmed that the company has received unsolicited inquiries into acquiring its Tulsa, Okla., refinery, which includes a 9,500 barrels per day API Group I base oil plant. Weve had a number of unsolicited inquiries, Sunoco spokesman Gerald Davis told Lube Report. Were looking at the interests of others also to see what the value might be to them. Tulsa has been a good contributor to Sunoco, particularly over the past several years, of refining strength. He said Sunoco...

Dow Chemical Co. and Petrochemical Industries Co. of Kuwait on Thursday outlined plans to form a U.S.-headquartered, $11 billion, 50/50 joint venture that will manufacture and market polyethylene, ethyleneamines, ethanolamines, polypropylene and polycarbonate. Ethanolamines are intermediates used in lubricant manufacturing. PIC is a wholly owned subsidiary of Kuwait Petroleum Corp. The transaction is expected to close in late 2008. To form the new company, Dow will sell to PIC a 50 percent inter...

Maxum Petroleum, wholly-owned subsidiary of SPI Petroleum LLC, recently acquired lubricants and fuel distributor Paulson Oil Co. in a stock purchase transaction valued at just under $20 million, according to Maxums Dec. 6 filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Founded in 1956 by Robert and Peter Paulson, Paulson Oil Co. is headquartered in Chesterton, Ind., about 40 miles southeast of Chicago. It services Indiana, Illinois and Michigan. The company distributes a variety of lubr...

Pilot Chemical has announced increases in prices for corrosion inhibitors and emulsifiers used in metalworking fluids, while Dow Chemical and Oxea eachannounced elevated prices for oxygenated solvents. It continues a wave of price increases in recent weeks, as suppliers of a variety of chemicals used in lubricant manufacturing say they have been hammered by supply/demand pressures and raw material costs. Cincinnati-based specialty chemical supplier Pilot on Friday announced price increases effec...

ExxonMobil Research & Engineering Co. said this week that Calumet Specialty Partners has selected its proprietary lubricant catalyst technology for its Shreveport, La., facility. Calumet is completing a $220 million expansion of the Shreveport refinery and plans to ramp up production in the first quarter of 2008. ExxonMobil R&E, based in Fairfax, Va., said Calumet will produce 8,600 barrels per day of high quality base stocks using ExxonMobils technology, including its trademarked MSDW...