Oxea on Friday said it signed a memorandum of understanding with Chinese company Shenyang Zhangming Chemical in Zhangyizhan, Shenyang, to form a joint venture to produce carboxylic acids in China and market the products worldwide. Production of other carboxylic acid derivatives is a possible option, according to the announcement. Carboxylic acids are chemical intermediates used for a variety of applications including production of lubricants and drying agents for coatings and paints. Together...

Neste Oil Corp., Bahrains Oil and Gas Holding Co. and the Bahrain Petroleum Co. on Monday outlined plans to establish a joint venture, Bahrain Base Oil Co., to build a 400,000 metric tons per year API Group III base oil plant in Bahrain that was initially announced in 2005. The project, which was once scheduled for completion in 2009, is now expected to begin production at the end of 2011. Last December, Matti Lehmus, Neste vice president for base oils, said the schedule had slipped due to the t...

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – New API Group III refineries on both sides of the Malacca Straits are making the Singapore-Malaysia-Indonesia region a new center of high-end base oil production. Petronas Melaka plant will begin on-spec production by late October, and directly across the Straits, SK-Pertaminas joint venture in Indonesia reportedly began commercial production two months ago. The Petronas Group III refinery in Melaka, Malaysia, is now 96 percent complete, Petronas Base Oil CEO Joe ...

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – Global grease production grew by more than 7.5 percent from 2006 to 2007, propelled by gains seen in China, Europe and India, an industry group heard last week. According to NLGIs Grease Production Survey for 2007, worldwide grease output reached 1,047,000 metric tons, up from 974,000 metric tons reportedin 2006. On a comparative basis – that is, only including volumes produced by companies that provided data for each of the past four years – global producti...

Leslie Doggett Jr., a former civilian manager in charge of purchasing various supplies — including industrial lubricants, degreasers and other chemicals — for the Naval Air Station in Norfolk, Va., pleaded guilty recently to accepting bribes worth more than $34,000 from an unnamed vendor. According to court documents filed May 29 in U.S. District Court in Norfolk, in November 2006 the undisclosed vendor (a local salesman who is now a cooperating witness in the investigation) began p...

Although Marathon said theres no change in status for its Catlettsburg, Ky., base oil plant, sources told Lube Report that company representatives indicate the shut down of the plant may come sooner than originally expected. On April 22, Marathon begin notifying customers of its plans, prior to year-end, to discontinue production of base oils, slack waxes and extracts and permanently shut down the plant, which has 6,800 barrels per day of API Group I capacity. The company said it would work to ...

Citgo has initiated plans to cease production at its Lake Charles, La., lubricants and waxes refinery during the second and third quarters of this year, and is looking into selling the facility, a Citgo Lake Charles spokeswoman told Lube Report yesterday. The decision is in response to continuing, downward trend market conditions for its products and an effort to remain industry competitive, said A. Shawn Trahan, Citgo Lake Charles government and public affairs manager. This decision will bette...