BP Lubricants agreed to withdraw its challenged advertising for Castrol GTX motor oil after a National Advertising Review Board panel recommended it discontinue a variety of sludge protection superiority claims in all media. BP America had appealed the findings last October of the National Advertising Division of the Council of Better Business Bureaus, which – following a challenge by Pennzoil-Quaker state of sludge protection claims in Castrol GTX advertising – had recommended BP A...

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – Petronas Base Oil yesterday concluded its second significant sale this month of Etro-branded API Group III base oils to a major Chinese oil company. Thats 11,000 tons in three weeks, at agreeable prices, a Petronas official said. Petronas Base Oil CEO Joe Rousmaniere told Lube Report that the first shipment of 3,000 tons of Group III base oil to a big Chinese oil company was discharged in China on Monday. The second sale of 8,000 tons to another big Chinese oil com...

Neste Oil, Bapco and Oil and Gas Holding Co. last week reached a milestone in their base oil project in Bahrain with the formal establishment of their joint venture, called Bahrain Lube Base Oil Co. Incorporation of the joint venture company was one of the important administrative steps related to the company, Matti Lehmus, Nestes executive vice president for oil products, told Lube Report. Bapco and Oil and Gas Holding together hold a 55 percent stake in the joint venture, while Espoo, Finland...

Huntsman Corp. and Laffans Petrochemicals Ltd. have signed a letter of intent to finalize a collaboration agreement to share know-how, expertise and resources for specialty chemicals, including surfactants and amines. Mumbai, India-based Laffans responsibilities would include manufacturing and raw material sourcing, while Huntsmans contribution would include marketing and selling, branding, product range, global approvals, technology and manufacturing processes. We expect this collaboration to b...

Bulgarian lubricant marketer Prista Oil has reached an agreement to buy 92 percent of Hungarian petroleum specialty manufacturer Bogdany Petrol Ltd. Prista said it plans to double the size of Bogdany Petrols operations and to use it as a vehicle for increased lubes sales in Hungary. Bogdany Petrol is located in the city of Nyrbogdny, in northeastern Hungary. It manufactures industrial oils such as quenching and cleaning fluids, technical white oils, and insulating paraffins and gels, among othe...

It has been a much quieter week on all fronts. With only a few exceptions, most European routes have been slower. In the United States, there has not been much spot market activity, although most routes are full for prompt loading due to heavy contractual volumes. In some ways, Asia has been busier with the mountain of open tonnage gradually becoming smaller, although it will be a long time before it is back in balance. U.S. Gulf of Mexico There is very little by way of fully open positions in ...