Valvoline launched an engine guarantee touting coverage up to 300,000 miles last week, encouraging use of its synthetic motor oil and driving customers to its quick lube centers to change motor oil every 3,000 miles. Enrollment is free, though customers need to register online before their car has racked up 75,000 miles, change their oil every 3,000 miles, and then keep track of purchase or service receipts as proof-of-purchase. The guarantee, announced on Valvolines web site, applies whether a...

Evergreen Holdings, its engineering affiliate and a former employee have reached a settlement in a trade secrets case that underscores the value and importance of engineering knowledge in the rerefining industry. Evergreen, Chemical Engineering Partners, and former employee Rohit Joshi last week said they had reached a global settlement to resolve an arbitration action filed against Joshi in December 2007 and all related actions. Chemical Engineering Partners business development manager Mark ...

Global mineral base oil capacity rose 1.4 percent over the past year, now topping 962,000 barrels per day, according to the 2009 Guide to Global Base Oil Refining. API Group II capacity rose a hefty 12 percent and Group III capacity shot up 33 percent since last June, while Group I capacity continued to shrink, dropping 4 percent. Published this month by LubesnGreases magazine, the completely updated 2009 Guide lists 164 mineral base oil plants, giving locations and capacities. In addition to i...

A towing vessel with 13 barges ran aground on the Ohio River near Owensboro, Kentucky, on Thursday, causing five barges to break loose and damaging one that had 500,000 gallons of base oil on board. It was number 600 and number 100 lube oil, U.S. Coast Guard Lt. j.g. Kirk Beckmann told Lube Report. The barge was coming to Louisville. Beckmann could not identify the owner of the product. According to a U.S. Coast Guard report, the towing vessel – called the Ned Merrick – ran aground...

Cognis Functional Products business unit on May 27 reported sales of 201 million (U.S. $283.8 million) for 2009s first quarter, down 16.1 percent from 240 million in the year-earlier period. The unit includes synthetic lubricants, mining technology, AgroSolutions and polymers, coatings and inks businesses. Businesses related to the mechanical engineering, housing and automotive sectors such as Coatings and Inks, and Synlubes were particularly affected by the economic downtown, Cognis said. With...

The long holiday weekend meant a quieter week in Europe, while the Americas enjoyed a reasonable spell of activity. Asias market remains overtonnaged, but the threat of rising bunker fuel prices could put a stop to further rate erosion for the moment at least. U.S. Gulf of Mexico With relatively few cargoes being imported in the U.S. Gulf, the pool of ships available for any cargo in any direction has become smaller. Taking it a step further, most owners who do have ships in the U.S. Gulf are ...