Chevron on Monday said its Chevron Africa Holdings subsidiary has agreed to sell 100 percent of its shareholdings in Chevron Kenya Ltd. and Chevron Uganda Ltd. to Total, including a lubricants blending plant. A Chevron spokesman told Lube Report the blending plant is in Kenya. He said the company had no comment beyond its announcement. Total said the acquisition confirms its commitment to strengthen its leadership in Eastern Africa. The divested companiesmarket lubricants, fuels, aviation and li...

Lubrizols additives segment and South Korean refiner S-Oil each reported increases in operating profit and revenue, while New Markets Afton Chemical additives subsidiary saw an increase in net sales, but a drop in operating profit, all for the quarter ending Sept. 30 compared to the year-ago quarter. Lubrizol Additives Lubrizols additives segment on Thursday reported operating income of $98.3 million for the third quarter, up 1 percent from $97 million in 2007s third quarter. The company attribu...

H.I.G. International has acquired Petroferm, including its Lambent Technologies division that manufactures and supplies oleochemical derivatives for lubrication formulations. Terms of the transaction, announced Oct. 29, were not disclosed. Founded in 1981, Petroferm is a privately held specialty chemicals manufacturer and formulator. In the mid 1990s, Petroferm made a series of acquisitions: specialty silicones manufacturer Siltech, oleochemical derivatives maker Calgene Chemical, and natural wa...

DUBAI – Emirates National Oil Co. is building a lubricant and grease blending plant in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates, with capacity to produce 105,000 metric tons per year. Scheduled to be completed by the middle of next year, the facility is designed to help Enoc expand in the marine lubricant market. Enoc officials discussed the facility last week during the Fifth ICIS Middle Eastern Base Oils and Lubricants Conference here. Now under construction, the facility is housed in a 10,000-squ...

A three-alarm, two-hour fire last Thursday morning at Calumets Shreveport, La. refinery caused no injuries and minor damage. The fire did not affect any base oils production, and all units are running normally, Calumet spokeswoman Liz Swaine told Lube Report. She said the fire also did not disrupt a planned three-week maintenance turnaround, which started Nov. 1 as scheduled. The fire was fed by a thin layer of oil in the sour water tank that burned until it was suppressed by foam, Calumet said ...

ExxonMobil has lifted allocations on non-PAO formulated lubricants, including all mineral-based lubricants, a company spokeswoman said yesterday. A sales allocation effective Oct. 1 on a variety of Mobil 1 synthetic lubricants remains in place. Our Beaumont lube plant is now receiving additional supply of conventional basestocks – basestocks not containing polyalphaolefins – at a rate that enabled it to lift, effective October 28, the 100 percent sales control announced on September...