Oxea lifted the force majeure declaration for products from its plant in Oberhausen, Germany, where production units are running at normal capacity again following the restoration of synthesis gas production, the company announced Friday. A spokesman confirmed that affected products included two amines and one carboxylic acid used in lubricants.

Company spokesman Ingo Baessler confirmed to LubesnGreases that the chemicals affected by the force majeure included: neopentyl glycol, commonly known as NPG, which is a carboxylic acid used in manufacturing synthetic lubricants; di-n-butylamine, an amine that can be used in lubricant applications; and isobutyraldehyde, a chemical intermediate from which lubricants may be derived.

ACEA Later

The European Automobile Manufacturers Association delayed the approval of its ACEA 2018 engine oil sequences because limits have not yet been set for engine tests developed by the groups counterparts in North America.

Yes, the 2018 sequences will be delayed into 2019, and I hope it will not be too long before the new sequences will be completed and published, said ACEA Emissions & Fuels Director Paul Greening. However, we will publish when the complete sequences and the needed tests are in an appropriate state of readiness.

The ACEA oil sequences are the main industry standards in Europe for light- and heavy-duty automotive engine oils and also serve as the backbone for the standards developed by most original equipment manufacturers. Most of the work on the upgrade is finished, and the new specifications were due to be approved and published by the end of 2018.

But ACEAs 2018 sequences include several engine tests developed by the International Lubricants Standardization and Advisory Committee for ILSAC GF-6, the much-delayed passenger car motor oil standards for North America. Industry committees have finished developing most of those tests, but are still conducting testing needed to set pass-fail levels.

In November, ILSAC and the American Petroleum Institute advised ACEA and other European organizations that they were still working on their tests and urged them not approve the 2018 ACEA sequences before test limits for the ILSAC tests had been set.

Observers have speculated that those limits may not be set until the second half of this year.

Shell, Lukoil and ExxonMobil Top Among Russian Motorists

Shell, Lukoil and ExxonMobil were the three most popular engine oil brands in a recent survey of Russian motorists.

Moscow-based market research firm Autostat asked more than 3,000 motorists during September and October 2018 to select one of 18 listed brands of engine oil that they would most recommend. Castrol and Zic, the brand of South Korean SK Lubricants, ranked fourth and fifth, respectively.

Seventeen percent of respondents picked Shell, 15 percent Lukoil, 13 percent ExxonMobil, 9 percent Castrol and 6 percent Zic.

Doing Deals

Petronas Lubricants International signed a partnership with Dubai-based Easa Saleh Al Gurg Group, which
will distribute Petronas’ range of automotive lubricants in the United Arab Emirates within the first quarter of 2019.

Independent lubricants manufacturer Fuchs Lubricants Co. selected Esker to automate its sales order process.

CFAO will distribute Total-branded lubricants at some of its dealerships in its distribution network. CFAO will distribute to Senegal, Cote d’Ivoire, Cameroon, Nigeria and Kenya initially, before extending the agreement to other African countries.

The European Commission approved Quaker Chemical Corps acquisition of Houghton International. Both companies are U.S.-headquartered producers of industrial lubricants. The commission initially was concerned about the monopolization by Quaker Chemical of the supply of rolling oils in Europe, which are used to produce steel and aluminum. The deal was therefore contingent on Houghtons divestment of its European rolling oil business.

Bellini named United Kingdom-based lubricant company Molyslip as its specialty lubrication partner in Italy, while Molyslip will distribute Bellinis cutting lubricants products in India.

Schiphol, Netherlands-based automotive lubricants and additives manufacturer JLM Lubricants B.V. appointed GCG Turbochargers as its distributor in Australia and New Zealand.

On Site

Ghanas Tema Lube Oil Co. is progressing on a three-phase blending plant expansion project to double its lubricant production capacity from about 22,500 metric tons per year to 45,000 t/y. Tema Lube Oil Managing Director Amos Donkor specified in a press statement that some of the projects to be undertaken aim to improve layout of the lube blending plant; debottleneck congestion on the production floor; and increase warehousing space.

Work at a lube blending plant in Chhattisgarh, India, was halted following an explosion that seriously injured one employee. Officials at Parvati Lubricants were unable to give a timeframe for resuming production due to the resulting legal action.

Dutch lubricant data company Olyslager Organization opened an office in Naperville, near Chicago, Illinois, to serve clients in the United States and Canada.

Oxea will increased prices in Europe for heptanoic acid by 50 per metric ton and isononanoic acid by 80/t.

Personnel Column

Amsterdam-based Vivo Energy appointed Mohamed Chaabouni as CEO of its Ivorian subsidiary. Chaabouni is currently managing director of Vivo Energy Tunisie, and will succeed Ben Hassan Ouattara.

German specialty chemicals company Lanxess AG appointed Thomas Duletzki as head of its mergers and acquisitions group, in which he has been working since 2014. He joined Lanxess from Evonik AG and Goldman Sachs.

Chemical company Oxea appointed Oliver Borgmeier as its chief operating officer. Borgmeier has been at Oxea for more than 13 years and has served as CEO and executive vice president of global operations. Oxea also hired Markus Hoschke as its new executive vice president of global marketing and sales, based at Oxeas headquarters in Monheim, Germany.

Aadrin Azly is the new chief operating officer of Malaysian energy and lubricants company Petronas.