Petro-Canada and Suncor Energy plan to merge in a common share exchange which a Bloomberg report estimated at Canadian $19.3 billion (U.S. $15.8 billion) in value. Suncors existing shareholders will own about 60 percent, and Petro-Canada shareholders will own 40 percent of the merged company. The Calgary, Alberta-based companies agreed the combined entity would operate corporately and trade under the Suncor name, while continuing to use the Petro-Canada brand for refined products. Pending approv...

Quaker States invitation to the Castrol, Valvoline and Mobil 1 brands to participate in a motor oil challenge to decide whose synthetic motor oil has better wear protection found no takers, as ExxonMobil and BP Lubricants did not reply and Valvoline questioned the adequacy of one-time testing. In a full-page ad in USA Today March 20, Quaker State invited Castrol, Valvoline and Mobil 1 to the challenge, a one-time Sequence IVA engine test to determine which brands synthetic motor oil provides be...

King Industries confirmed that it has gone through two rounds of reductions in force, at the beginning of the year and again in mid-March. The privately held additive manufacturer declined to say how many employees were let go. King Industries spokesman Robert Burk told Lube Report that the layoffs involved very minor numbers, and that the company views this as a temporary situation. King Industries has four divisions serving different industries, said Burk, and those servicing the automotive ...

A Houghton International Inc. lubricant blending plant in Wolverhampton, U.K., is scheduled to be closed at the end of this month, a casualty of the global recession. Operations at that facility, which employs approximately 50 people, will be transferred to another Houghton plant in Manchester, U.K. The decision was first reported Monday on the web site of the local newspaper, The Express and Star. The Wolverhampton plant was formerly operated by D.A. Stuart Co., which Houghton acquired last y...

After years of strong revenue and profit growth, Germanys Fuchs Petrolub AG last week predicted that sales and earnings will decline this year. Business in January and February was generally unsatisfactory, the company said, as customers reduce inventories and order less. Last week Mannheim-based Fuchs released its detailed 2008 financial statements, showing revenue growth of 2 percent over 2007, and the companys second best earnings ever, despite the global economic collapse in the fourth quart...

BASF and Oxea each increased prices for a variety of polyalcols used in producing lubricants, while Oxea also raised prices on several solvents. Ludwigshafen, Germany-based BASF on March 25 said it will raise prices immediately, or as contracts allow, on neopentylglycol (NPG) and trimethylolpropane (TMP) by 10 euro cents per kilogram in Europe, Africa and the Middle East; by 5 cents per pound in the Americas; and by U.S. 5 cents/kg. in Asia Pacific. The price adjustment is necessary due to inc...