Bulgarian lubes marketer Prista Oil bought Chevrons controlling stake in Uz-Texaco in Fergana, Uzbekistan, and started lubricants production, as part of its expansion into Central Asia and the Middle East. Terms were not disclosed.

Uz-Texaco was a joint venture between state-owned Uzbekneftegaz and Chevrons Texaco Overseas Hold-ings Inc., while Prista Oil is Bulgarias largest finished lubricants producer. Uz-Prista plans to produce mineral, synthetic and semi-synthetic lubricants, as well as antifreeze.

In 2012 we are set to manufacture 49 million liters of lubricants, of which 4 million liters should be synthetic and semi-synthetic lubricants, Prista Chairman Plamen Bobokov said. The companys marketing strategy calls for more than 50 percent of the volume to be exported to Central Asia and the East European countries of Ukraine and Moldova.

Under terms of the deal, Uzbekneftegazs Fergana API Group I base oil plant will supply the blender with up to 3,000 tons of base oil per month for its production activities in 2012 and 2013. Prista began cooperation with Uz-Texaco in mid-2011, providing licensing for production of a full assortment of motor oils. The Uzbekistan Daily reported in October that the first batch of Prista brand 5W-40 motor oils amounted to about 10,000 tons.

Prista now owns or controls four lubricant production facilities. It has wholly-owned blending plants Ruse, Bulgaria, and Izmit, Turkey, and it has a majority stake in Bogdany Petrol, which operates a grease plant in Nyirbogdany, Hungary.

Lukoil Bullish on Future

Russian oil major Lukoil plans to add API Group II and III base oil capacity, begin lithium grease production through a joint venture and develop its marine lubricants business in the coming years, a company official told the RPI International Lubricants Russia Conference.

The company still claims strong leadership in the Russian lubricants market, said Maxim Donde, general director of LLK-International, Lukoils lubricants arm. Although our primary focus is the Russian market, we also expect to expand our export volumes.

The volume of Russian lubricants produced in 2011 remained the same as in 2010, as demand for synthetic and semi-synthetic lubricants rose, while demand for GOST Russian specification lubes diminished, according to Donde. Demand for synthetic and semi-synthetic lubricants in Russia is expected to rise around 6 percent per year in the future, he said.

By 2020 Lukoil plans to increase its Group II and Group III base oil capacity by more than 50 percent. By 2015 we expect our Volgograd plant to produce up to 265,000 tons of Group III base oil, said Donde, adding that 350,000 t/y of new Group II and II+ capacity will come on stream at the companys Perm refinery by 2021. Lukoils 30,000 t/y hydrocatalytic complex in Volgograd is today the only plant in Russia that produces Group III base oil.

The company is set to enter a new lubricants venture with state transportation company Russian Railways. In June 2012, LLK in will start production of lithium greases in a new plant that is expected to produce up to 30,000 t/y of greases. By 2015, it plans to meet up to 50 percent of Russias total lithium grease demand.

Positive economic indicators bode well for the the countrys lubricants industry, Donde said. Russias gross domestic product is expected to grow around 4 percent in 2011. Metallurgy and machine building are expected to grow 5 and 12 percent, respectively. Manufacturing is expected to rise more than 5 percent, with the biggest growth in the transportation sector.

Donde also reported that the company will continue to develop its marine lubes business, which was started in 2008 and now has a 2 percent share of the worlds marine lubes market. We are the only company in Russia that has approvals for its lubes from the leading ship engine producers, he said. Our marine lubricants are produced in 17 countries and sold to ship owners in more than 54 countries.

Petromin Opens Blending Plant

Petromins new 250,000 t/y capacity lubricants blending plant in Saudi Arabia went on stream in late November. Petromin Executive Vice President Sajid Saeed confirmed it is the same blending plant announced as a 100 million riyal (21 million) project in late 2009. The plant occupies 55,000 square meters of land at the Saudi Aramco Industrial Zone in Jeddah.

The plant has 125,000 tons per shift per year of blending capacity, and key target markets are the Middle East and Africa. The plant will produce oils and greases for all market sectors, including automotive and industrial. Historically, Petromins business revenues have been split about 60 percent from the industrial sector and 40 percent from the automotive sector.

Petromin is owned by Advance Petroleum Services Ltd., a joint venture between National Scientific Services Ltd., a member of Dabbagh Group of Saudi Arabia, and Gulf Oil International, which is part of the Indian conglomerate Hinduja Group. Hinduja is a trading, banking and energy conglomerate based in Chennai, India. Dabbagh is based in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and has interests in industrial and agricultural businesses.

More PAO for Qatar?

Shell and Qatar Petroleum signed an agreement setting out the scope and commercial principles of a joint venture petrochemicals complex that would use natural gas to produce 300,000 metric tons per year of linear alpha olefins (LAOs), as well as 1.5 million t/y of mono-ethylene glycol. Officials said output from the plant would be sold mostly in Asia.

LAOs are chains of alpha olefins and can be various lengths. The joint venture plant would make LAOs ranging from C4 (a chain of 4 alpha olefins) to C24. Different length LAOs can be used for different purposes but C10, or decene, can be used to make polyalphaolefin base stocks, as well as other products. Although a Shell spokesman said it is too early to speculate about how much decene would be produced, it is safe to assume that the plant would make some LAOs that could go into making PAOs.

The signing does not necessarily mean that the complex will come to fruition. Final investment decisions from both companies will be needed before it is clear that the project will go forward. At present there is no timeline for a decision.

As currently contemplated, Qatar Petroleum would own 80 percent of the complex, Shell 20 percent. The companies also share ownership of the Pearl GTL plant – likewise located in Ras Laffan. That plant includes a base oil plant that began producing in 2011.

H&R Reorganizes Board

H&R AG, which operates base oil plants in Hamburg and Salzbergen, Germany, announced a reorganized Executive Management Board, expanding its leadership structure and naming Niels H. Hansen as chief executive officer and Luis Rauch as chief financial officer.

Hansen has worked for H&R since 1990 and was appointed to the executive board in 2001. He has been in charge of the sales organization as well as the development of international business. As CEO, Hansen will concentrate on group development, international business and corporate communications. Hansen succeeded Gert Wendroth, who stepped down as CEO effective 1 January.

Luis Rauch was most recently finance director at the Friedhelm Loh Group, and prior to that he worked for more than ten years at Dyckerhoff AG, a producer of construction materials. Rauch also spent more than 15 years at the chemical and pharmaceutical group Hoechst (now Sanofi Aventis), where his responsibilities included export finance for Europe, North America and Japan. He succeeds Andreas Keil, who left to pursue other business opportunities.

H&R will also establish an executive committee as a second-tier management group to support the executive board. The committee will initially have five members, who will either head the group’s divisions or be responsible for technical and strategic matters. Steve Parkinson and Joe Zhou have already been named to the committee. Remaining members will be named later in the year.

MOGoil to Distribute PIBs

MOGoil of Berlin, Germany, has signed an agreement to distribute polyisobutenes produced by Koreas Daelim throughout Europe. Daelim supplies both conventional and highly reactive PIBs. MOGoil is one of a limited number of Dealim distributors of these products in Europe.

Hydrodec Names CEO

Hydrodec Group plc, a rerefiner of transformer oil, has appointed Ian Smale as chief executive officer to succeed Mark McNamara. McNamara will remain with the company as senior executive director, working on the ongoing development of the company, its technology and new business opportunities.

Smale joined Hydrodec following a 30-year career at BP plc, where his most recent position was group head of strategy and policy. He is to work with the Hydrodecs board of directors to strengthen senior management as part of its strategy to develop the global potential of the companys technology in the transformer oil and related industrial fluid markets.

Setral Taps Gulf Region Partner

Setral GmbH, a member of the Ecco Group in Seeshaupt, Germany, has a new partner in the Gulf region: Eram International Holding, a limited liability company in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Setral manufactures high-performance lubricants and maintenance products, and has contracted with Eram to sell Setral and Ecco products in the Middle East and North Africa. Eram and Setral are targeting large industrial entities, governmental manufacturers and other clients that need custom industrial lubricants.