Several major oil companies notified customers of finished lubricant price drops in recent weeks, although industry sources indicate a wide chasm remains between the majors and independents on pricing, increasing the independents appeal in a tough economy. Some marketers say these decreases were sorely needed. The majors have been so far out of whack compared to the independents, an official with a Midwestern distributor told Lube Report. Some of these independent guys went down as much as $2 a ...

LONDON – Chevrons planned 25,000 barrel per day API Group II base oil plant in Pascagoula, Miss., wont open its doors before late 2011, but its marketing team is already touting a proposed API Group II+ base stock aimed at Europes new, high performance ACEA E9 engine oil specification. Brent Lok, Chevrons Richmond, Calif.-based global base oil marketing manager, gave an update to the ICIS World Base Oils & Lubricants Conference here last week on the Pascagoula project and Chevrons pl...

A partner in the Finnish joint venture L&T Recoil Oy said last week that it is nearing completion of a 60,000-metric-ton base oil rerefinery in Hamina, Finland, and plans to open the facility in May. Officials from EcoStream added that the Hamina plant is just the first step in a long-term plan that calls for eventual construction of four other rerefineries. We are committed to becoming a major supplier in this market, Trader Kari-Matti Elo told Lube Report during an interview Thursday at t...

Calumet Specialty Products Partners L.P. on Feb. 18 reported net income of $18.5 million for the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2008, 137 percent higher than $7.8 million net income in 2007s fourth quarter. For the full year, Calumets net income reached $44.4 million, down 46.4 percent from $82.9 million for 2007. The Indianapolis-based refiner attributed the difference in quarterly net income primarily to a $53.2 million increase in gross profit – to $81.2 million – offset by increased der...

It has been another week of growth in the chemical/parcels markets with more ships fixed ahead, causing the pool of prompt positions to shrink just a little bit more. For the most part, the reactivation is taking place on the deep-sea markets, implying pricing imbalances and thereby the creation of arbitrage opportunities between regions. China does seem to be at the forefront of much of the new enquiry, suggesting that the economic stimulus provided by the Chinese government may be starting to ...