Cognis functional products business unit – which includes synthetic lubricants, mining technology, AgroSolutions and polymers, coatings and inks businesses – on Aug. 27 reported sales of 480 million (U.S. $706.8 million) for the first six months of 2008, up 3.3 percent from 465 million in the year-earlier period. The result reflects good market conditions and strong demand for environmentally sound agricultural products as well as for synthetic lubricants, Cognis said. However, sale...

Shell Lubricants Switzerland AG has transferred the sale and marketing of Shell lubricants, including aviation lubricants, for Switzerland and Liechtenstein to distributor Maagtechnic. The contract with Dbendorf, Switzerland-based Maagtechnic, a division of Dtwyler Schweiz AG in Altdorf, Switzerland, went into effect Aug. 18. The corresponding customer and service center and technical support will also transfer to Maagtechnic. According to Shell, the business transfer to Maagtechnic excludes lub...

On Monday, Canada’s GWC Services Ltd., parent company of Great Western Containers Inc., assumed ownership of Nemco Resources, a family-owned motor oil, lubricant and coolant manufacturer and distributor. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. GWC originally signed an agreement Aug. 8 to acquire all shares of Nemco operations in Canada’s Manitoba and Saskatchewan provinces.Nemco will continue to operate under its trade name as a subsidiary of GWC Services Ltd. Winnipeg, Manitob...

Fouman Chimie and Sepahan Oil are moving forward with plans to build an API Group II base oil plant in Bandar Abbas, Iran. The project had been stalled by economic sanctions that prevented acquisition of refining technologies, but the joint venture has skirted that problem by contracting with French technology provider Axens. The plant will have capacity to produce 270,000 metric tons of base oil per year and is scheduled to open in the fourth quarter of 2011, according to an announcement distri...

U.S. refiners produced 32.7 million barrels of base oil in the first half of this year, just a nose ahead of the 32.5 million barrels produced in the first six months of 2007. According to data released last week by the Energy Information Agency, output of paraffinic base oils in the first half reached 28.2 million barrels, a 3 percent gain from first-half 2007. Naphthenic base oils, however, suffered from supply hiccups that hobbled overall growth. Pale oil production fell nearly 12 percent, to...

Citgo Petroleum Corp. wants to sell both its finished lubricants and its base oils businesses — preferably together, according to a Goldman, Sachs & Co. memorandum obtained by Lube Report. Citgo retained Goldman Sachs as financial advisor in connection with the potential sale. Citgo expects the sales process to be a two-phase auction. During phase one of the auction process, interested parties will get an opportunity to conduct an initial review of the finished lubricants and the base...