Jiffy Lube International named Rick Altizer president effective Aug. 1, and Castrol Industrial North America named Todd Mitchell president of its industrial fluids and lubricants business for the Americas region effective July 1. Altizer, who joined Jiffy Lube in August 2007, is expanding his current role as general manager, global operations. He will report to David Pirret, executive vice president, Shell Lubricants. Altizer replaces Luis Scoffone, who is departing to fill the newly created rol...

WD-40 Co. on July 2 said its net sales for the third quarter, ending May 31, totaled $82.1 million, up 5.8 percent from 2007s third quarter. Net income rose 5.6 percent, to $8.1 million, in the quarter. Earnings per share were 49 cents in the third quarter, compared to 45 cents per share in the same quarter a year earlier. San Diego-based WD-40s fiscal year runs from Sept. 1 to Aug. 31. Global sales of the lubricants WD-40 and 3-in-One were up 8.2 percent to $61.2 million, compared to 2007s th...

Nynas Naphthenics said it plans to increase storage capacity at its hub in Antwerp, Belgium by 20 percent in response to increased demand for tire oils and its recently introduced Nova Grades transformer oils. Earlier this year Nynas opened a depot in Kotka, southeast Finland, with storage for 4,500 cubic meters of transformer oils and base oils. In its latest Naphthenics magazine, the company said that in parallel with the investment in the bigger storage facilities in Antwerp, it will also in...

Kobil Zambia has acquired from Total Zambia Ltd. a 15 percent share of Lublend Ltd., a lubricants blending plant in Ndola, in the Copperbelt region of Zambia in southern Africa. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Kobil Zambia, which is a fully-owned subsidiary of the Kenol Group, has its head office in Kenya. Kobil said that with the acquisition, it plans to beef up its lubricants blending and supplies within the mineral-rich Zambian region. The plant will boost Kobil lubricants supp...

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – Asia is the largest consumer of lubricants in the world, gobbling more than 35 percent of global demand last year, up from 30 percent five years ago. The regions robust economic growth leads one industry expert to predict that Asian base oil demand will rise by 12 percent over the next five years. John Paisie, partner and head of global downstream at PFC Energy, offered a big-picture view of the impact of Asian growth on base oil supply and demand at the ICIS Asia...

Evergreen Oil plans to build a new base oil rerefining plant with 800 barrels per day of API Group II capacity in southern Californias Imperial Valley, a company official told Lube Report. Evergreen is also in the final stages of an expansion project at itsrerefinery in Newark, Calif.,adding 550 barrels per day ofnew Group II capacity to its existing Group I production. The Imperial Valley is a key strategic location between our Southern California and southwestern U.S. markets, Gary Colbert, Ev...