Nissan Motor Co. and the Japan Atomic Energy Agency have jointly developed a neutron imaging system that they claim has provided the worlds first precise visualization of oil flow in an automotive engine operating at high speed. Combining neutron radiography to allow viewing through lightweight metals with high-speed imaging technology to capture dynamic events, the imaging system enables researchers to study the characteristics of lubricating oil as it circulates through an automobile engine o...

HOUSTON – U.S. vehicle production is dropping, miles driven are declining, and 2008 motor oil consumption will likely slide more than 5 percent from a year ago. But despite the grim trends, one industry expert sees some bright opportunities for motor oil marketers. Larry Solomon, president of Strategic Resources, a Union, Ky.-based market research firm, provided last months NPRA Lubricants and Waxes Meeting an updated projection for U.S. motor oil consumption by private sector passenger ca...

Average reported salaries for laboratory, R&D and technical managers at U.S. lubricant manufacturing companies are 6 percent higher than they were two years ago, according to new research from Lubes’n’Greases magazine. For the tech-savvy leader who can oversee a budget, manage a staff, juggle time and resources, communicate with other departments, create a steady flow of products, and be a steward for quality and the environment,, industry sources report that opportunities are q...

Delfin Group USA will invest $55 million in the 41.7 acre North Charleston, S.C., industrial site that it acquired for $20 million in late 2007 from Chevron. A division of Moscow-based Delfin Group Russia, the company plans to retrofit the existing infrastructure to support manufacturing of its automotive and industrial lubricants to serve both domestic and global markets. Probably the earliest the expansion would start would be in the first quarter of 09, John Krug, vice president of Delfin si...

In a David-vs.-Goliath scenario, a jury last month found that ExxonMobil conspired to drive South Carolina petroleum jobber Bristow Oil out of the Mobil lubricants business and wrongfully terminated its distributorship in spring 2001. ExxonMobil maintained it canceled the contract in accordance with the terms of the distributor agreement. A Darlington County, S.C., jury Nov. 21 found in favor of Bristow Oil on two counts – civil conspiracy by ExxonMobil, and wrongful termination of Bristo...