Eni and OMV have both taken stakes in Abu Dhabi National Oil Co.s refining unit. Adnoc has also established a trading joint venture with the two European firms in a deal worth U.S. $5.8 billion, subject to price adjustments. Adnoc Refining produces base oils, as well as a range of fuels and petrochemical feedstocks.

Global chemicals distributor Azelis will distribute Angus Chemical Co.s line of nitro-alkanes and their derivatives, which are used in metalworking fluids, in Russia and Belgium.

Regulatory authorities approved French oil products supplier Rubis acquisition of KenolKobil with the cash offer closing on Feb. 18. Rubis, which already owns 24.99 percent of KenolKobil, announced a takeover offer valued at $353 million in October last year. KenolKobil distributes lubricants, aviation fuels, liquid propane gas and bitumen in Kenya, Burundi, Ethiopia, Uganda, Rwanda and Zambia. Rubis has been on an acquisition spree since 2017, buying fuels and oil products supply and distribution businesses in countries such as Haiti, Madagascar, Portugal, Italy and Iran.

Easa Saleh Al Gurg Group LLC signed a distribution deal with Malaysias Petronas Lubricants International. The Dubai-based conglomerate will distribute Petronas lubricant products in the United Arab Emirates.

Repsol Lubricants signed on for another three-year partnership with Total Lubmarine where the Spanish company will serve Totals maritime and power plant customers in Gibraltar, Peru and Spain.

German chemical distribution company Brenntag is set to acquire the lubricants division of Reeder Distributors, Inc., a regional, integrated lubricant distributor headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas.

Afghan transportation, fuel supply, logistics and construction company Ahmad Yar Group signed a distributor agreement with United Kingdom-based lubricant company Duckhams to supply lubricants in Afghanistan.

Shell Lubricants announced a new partnership with Indian automaker Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. to offer a range of lubricant products to be distributed through Mahindras dealerships and retail networks.

On Site

Algerian company Sarl Sopremac opened a lube oil blending plant in Algeria to produce multigrade motor oils and industrial lubricants. The $13.7 million facility has capacity of 25,000 t/y and will manufacture a range of lubricants made from conventional and synthetic base stocks, according to David Derouet of Leroux Lotz Industry, the French company that constructed and equipped the new plant.

Global chemicals company BASF signed an agreement with officials from Guangdong province in China to establish a new $10 billion site in the city of Zhanjiang. The smart plant will include a unit with capacity of 1 million t/y of ethylene. Meanwhile, BASF commissioned Feiya Chemical Co. to build a lubricant antioxidants factory in Chinas Jiangsu province, under a technology licensing and manufacturing agreement.

Chemical intermediates company Oxea is aiming to double production of carboxylic acids in 2019 and 2020 through debottlenecking of its manufacturing processes. Carboxylic acids are used in synthetic lubricants production, among other applications.

Personnel Column

Shell distributor Vivo Energy Ghana appointed Ben Hassan Ouattara as its managing director. Hans Jensen Lubricators appointed former sales manager Stefan Sletting Nielsen as its new chief commercial officer. The company is a family-owned Danish cylinder lubrication systems manufacturer for two-stroke marine diesel engines. Taco van der Maten, marketing manager at U.K.-based testing company Malvern Panalytical, is the new chairman of ASTM Internationals board of directors.