October 2026

• The Strait of Hormuz remained mostly closed to ship traffic, continuing to cause upheaval. Gabriela Wheeler likens the situation to the Tanker War of the 1980s.
• The base oil crisis will lead lubricant manufacturers to work in a variety of ways to make supply chains more resilient. Their steps generally will increase costs that will be difficult to pass on to customers.
• A developed lube market at the end of long supply chains is at the whim of events sometimes on the other side of the world. Rerefining and EVs could offer a way to supply security in Australia.
• Lube producers looking for alternative Group III sources found that other suppliers were already sold out. Rerefined base oils might have offered a new source of Group III and polyalphaolefins an alternative, but both were already in tight supply.
• ABN Resource’s 2026 lubricant industry talent report reveals mixed feelings for workers: high job satisfaction but openness to new opportunities; good feelings about industry contributions but concerns that they are not recognized and more.
• Fuchs’ growth through acquisition and organic expansion spans 95 years.
• The world may — or may not — soon have a regulation prodding the shipping industry to use cleaner fuels. Depending on the alternatives it chooses, marine lubricants may need reformulation.

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