Tide Water Oil Co.s first-quarter net profits plunged 41 percent annually, dropping to Rs 16.3 crore (U.S. $2.4 million) during the April to June 2017 period, down from Rs 27.5 crore last year, according to a regulatory filing.

Continental Petroleums Ltd. reported that its profits slumped 29 percent compared to last years first quarter, due primarily to higher expenses and finance costs. The company posted a standalone net profit of Rs 878,000 (about U.S. $13,020) in the quarter ended June 30, down from Rs 1.23 million in the corresponding quarter last year.

Apar Industries Ltd. reported a 40 percent decline in its transformer and specialty oils segments operating profit due to aggressive pricing and weak retail sales of automotive and industrial oils ahead of the implementation of Indias Goods and Services Tax system. The segment posted a consolidated profit of Rs 34 crore before finance costs and taxes during the quarter, down from Rs 56.6 crore in the same period last year. Revenue from Apars specialty oils segment surged 19 percent to just shy of Rs 500 crore, driven by strong growth in transformer oils, white oils and automotive oils.

GP Petroleums Ltd. posted a 55 percent slump in first-quarter net profits as sales declined ahead of the July implementation of GST. A sharp drop in other income also depressed its bottom line, as it reported a net profit of Rs 3.5 crore during the April to June 2017 period, down from Rs 7.8 crore in the same period last year.

Balmer Lawrie & Co. Ltd., one of Indias largest grease suppliers, reported that its lube segments operating profit declined 33 percent year on year in the first quarter. The segment posted a standalone profit of Rs 7.1 crore before taxes and interest during the quarter ended June 30, down from approximately Rs 10.7 crore.

Companies Lack Incentive to Update Registrations

A report commissioned by the European Chemicals Agency on dossier updates suggests that more clarity is needed on how the registration process works, what needs to be updated and by whom for more companies to submit new information on the safe use of their chemicals. The report examines the challenges and incentives for updating REACH and CLP dossiers and identifies best practices that could help companies improve their data.

It identifies the main issues affecting companies responsible for updating their information as the perception that registration is the end of the process, that no additional work is needed afterward; obscurity of what needs to be updated, when and by whom; and limited resources, especially for small to medium enterprises.

The REACH and CLP regulations require companies to update their information whenever new information is available. Article 22 of REACH specifies a number of further duties of registrants. These can be divided into those that registrants are expected to do spontaneously under their own initiative and those required by ECHA during the evaluation process. Around 64 percent of the registration dossiers submitted to ECHA since 2008 have never been updated.

The study was carried out by Amec Foster Wheeler Environment and Infrastructure UK Ltd. in association with Peter Fisk Associates Ltd. It is available on the ECHA website.

Puraglobe Outlines Group III Plans

Puraglobe President and CEO Andreas Schueppel said in an email that the company performed its API Group III start-up in mid-June after an upgrade that converted 50 percent of its capacity at the location from Group II to Group III. The plant now has 50,000 t/y of Group II and 50,000 t/y of Group II production capacity.

After a very successful project phase – in time and in budget – in the cold and hot commissioning phase we could start up the unit in less than one day, he said. Schueppel added that Puraglobe processes about 250,000 tons of used oil per year at its rerefinery in Germany. We run our own used oil collection in Germany by collecting about 25 percent of the needed volume, he noted. The remaining volume is acquired from other collectors within Germany, but also throughout Europe, from where we are importing a significant amount.

Puraglobes feedstock includes a wide variety of lubricant types. That means we are able to convert the average used oil quality into premium Group III base oils, Schueppel explained. There is no preselection necessary.

The company is introducing its Group III base oils under the Purebase series name. We produce up to 10 different grades of base oils in order to fulfill the requests of our customers, he said, adding that the company has already sold a big amount of the produced [Group III] volume to the market, mainly to our existing customer base in Europe.

While Troeglitz rerefinery can produce rerefined Group III in traditional viscosity grade cuts such as 4, 6 and 8 centiStoke, it also has the flexibility to produce lighter and heavier cuts. Schueppel emphasized the company is producing straight cuts. That means that each customer who is ordering a very narrow cut or a very special viscosity gets delivered a straight-produced material, not a blend.

Promoter Boosts Stake in Gulf Oil Lubricants

Gulf Oil International (Mauritius) Inc. has acquired an additional stake in Gulf Oil Lubricants India Ltd., bringing its total share to 71.48 percent. The promoters move comes as construction of the companys second blending plant nears completion.

Gulfs promoter acquired 500,000 shares of the Mumbai-based lubricant maker at an average price of Rs 808.15 (U.S. $12.59) per share. The purchase was made through an open market transaction, according to a regulatory filing. The promoter, part of the Hinduja Group, then further boosted its stake in the company by 0.70 percent late last week by acquiring an additional 347,437 shares.

Before the acquisitions, the promoter group owned 69.78 percent of the Indian lubricant company. The remaining stake was held publically by individuals through mutual funds, foreign portfolio investors and financial institutions.

Gulf Oil Lubricants is building a 50,000 ton per year plant in Chennai, with an investment of about Rs 180 crore (Rs 1.8 billion, or approximately U.S.$26.7 million). The company projects it will start operations there by the end of the calendar year. The company expects the new location to help it save freight costs, tap opportunities around Chennai and serve the needs of consumers in the southern market, which accounts for approximately 30 percent of its sales.

Mendeleev To Rerefine in 2018

Russias Mendeleev fuel refinery and lubricant plant resumed operations in August after a two-year production halt, and the embattled enterprise said it has bold plans for the future, including rerefining.

Oleg Krasnonos, general director of Konstantinovsky, Yaroslavl region-based Mendeleev refinery, said, One of the main features of the revived refinery will be production of base oils by processing waste oils that we plan to collect all over Russia from different sources. The rerefining facility is scheduled to open in 2018, he said, without giving a specific timeline, adding that the refinery is getting ready to start production of naphtha, marine fuel, fuel oil and other petrochemical products.

Credit Bank of Moscow controls 88.7 percent of the refinerys shares and has pledged to revive the refining facility through a 4.5 billion ruble (U.S. $78 million) investment bid.

The refinery employs a workforce of 411. It was very important for us to restart the company and to repay the outstanding debts toward the employees salaries, said Dmitry Mironov, vice-governor of the Yaroslavl region. Built in 1879, the Mendeleev refinery is the oldest in Russia and probably the first lubricant manufacturer established in the country.

Russian oil major Slavneft acquired the refinery in 1995 and operated it until 2012, when control of the facility was sold to Moscow-based Neftgazsbyt. Neftgazsbyt, Mendeleev Group and others later increased their holding and pledged a $2 billion revamp, but the plan never materialized.

In 2015, the refinerys overall crude oil refining capacity was reduced to 192,000 tons, down from 570,000 tons the year before. The refinerys total capacity is 700,000 t/y. However, operations halted in late 2015 due to raw material shortages, and the owners filed for bankruptcy in February 2016, which led to Credit Bank assuming the majority of shares.