NEW YORK – Basic economics will determine the longevity of most of todays base oil refineries. While no new solvent refineries will be built, well run solvent plants can compete successfully against newer technologies, but high cost plants are in danger, no matter what their technology or location, Solomons Jamie Brunk cautioned. Brunk, a senior consultant with Solomon Associates in Dallas, Texas, offered a primer on base oil refining economics at the ICIS Pan-American Base Oils & Lub...

Puralube recently opened a second rerefinery in Zeitz Chemical and Industrial Park in Troeglitz, Germany, doubling the sites actual API Group II base oil capacity to about 100,000 metric tons per year (about 1,900 barrels per day). Harry Wadle, Puralube sales manager, said each plant has a real capacity of about 50,000 mt/y (950 b/d). The second plant is running now on normal capacity, and has been producing base oils for roughly four weeks, Wadle told Lube Report yesterday. It is the same size ...

NEW YORK – Venezuelas lubricants industry faces many of the same challenges today as 48 years ago, including keeping up with technological changes and reducing dependence on imported raw materials, said Ricardo Barreto, president of Venoco, the countrys largest independent blender. There is increasing demand in Venezuela for API Group II base oils, but government approval is required for base oil imports. The nature of the [import] license is at the discretion of the government. It might b...

Nippon Oil U.S.A. Ltd. has selected Orange Line Oil Co. to distribute Eneos brand synthetic motor oils throughout the western United States. Under the agreement, Orange Line Oil will serve as the West Coast distribution center by partnering with other distributors in California, Oregon and Washington. We have enjoyed a successful partnership with Orange Line Oil for several years and look to its expertise in the oil distribution industry to expand our companys bandwidth to all of the western s...

Consolidated Edison Co. of New York will supply Hydrodecs new transformer oil rerefinery in Canton, Ohio, with a minimum of 450,000 gallons of used transformer oil per year for three years starting from Jan. 1, 2009, under an agreement announced Monday. The utility company provides electric, gas and steam service to more than three million customers in New York City and Westchester County, N.Y. Once the transformer oil becomes degraded, it is removed and replaced, said David Roche, a senior sc...

A very slow start to the year: many ships are idle, a dozen or so of which have been without employment since before Christmas. Many others are entering their second week without finding cargoes. Europe, Asia and the United States are all affected. The prospects of new business developing this week are not good, which would imply that very competitive freight levels may be achievable for cargoes that are fully firm. U.S. GulfThe abundance of ships open in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico over the next w...