Petroplus Holdings AG closed its Petit Couronne, France, refinery, including a base oil plant with capacity of 330,000 metric tons per year. When announcing that action in early January, the Swiss refiner and fuels marketer said it was taking steps to cut costs, but before the month ended the company announced it would file for insolvency.

The Petit Couronne base oil plant has 330,000 t/y of API Group I capacity and 50,000 t/y of Group III capacity.

Petroplus is a relative newcomer to Europes petroleum industry, having been founded in 1993. As a non-integrated refiner – one that does not engage in exploration and production of crude oil – it adopted a strategy based on spot purchases of crude and short-term contracts, which it believed could be opportunistic. Without its own retail outlets, the company described itself as a pure player with flexibility to choose sales channels that were most favorable at particular points in time.

The company grew to become Europes largest independent refiner and wholesaler of petroleum products. At its peak it owned five refineries with total throughput capacity of 667,000 barrels per day. Now the number of refineries has dwindled to three – in Petit Couronne; Coryton, U.K.; and Ingolstadt, Germany.

Fuchs JV to Build Plant in Turkey

Opet-Fuchs will build a blending plant in Turkey expected to open in 2013, with initial capacity of 50,000 t/y. The joint venture, established in 2005, acquired Opets lubricants business effective 2 January.

Opet-Fuchs General Manager Murat Seyhan said that the first phase of the 19 million blending plant will be completed by the end of 2013. A second phase will later increase capacity to 75,000 t/y. The new plant will replace an existing one.

The acquisition includes the lubricant divisions 176 employees and an existing blending plant in Izmir. Fuchs automotive oils will now be manufactured and sold in Turkey by Opet-Fuchs.

Including Opets lubricants business, the joint venture generated 80 million in sales revenues for 2011. This acquisition means that all lubricant activities of the partners operating in Turkey are now incorporated within the joint venture, Fuchs said in a statement.

Opet-Fuchs expects to have a market share of about 41,000 t/y, or about 12 percent of Turkeys projected 350,000-t/y lubricants market in 2012. Opet, a joint venture of the Koc Group and the Ozturk family, is the third largest mineral oil company in Turkey and operates more than 1,200 filling stations.

Oryx Expands in West Africa

Oryx Oil and Gas opened its second lubricant blending plant in Africa, located in Lome, Togo. The new 18,000-t/y facility is intended to help Oryx expand in West Africa.

Right now, most of our lubricant sales are in East Africa, said Guillaume Desenne, lubricants director for Oryx Oil and Gas. Most of the countries in West Africa are smaller markets. But we see opportunity to grow our business there, and we believe this plant will help us do that.

Oryx Oil and Gas is part of Addax & Oryx Group, an independent, privately held holding company based in Geneva, Switzerland. Oryx Oil and Gas is primarily a trader and marketer of fuel and other petroleum products in Africa. Oryxs lubricant business focuses on the mining industry but is also working to expand in the marine market and other parts of the industrial lubricant segment.

The company also operates a blending plant in Dares Salaam, Tanzania. Some output from that plant is marketed under Oryxs own brand, but the facility also toll-blends fluids for other customers.

The Togo plant is located in a free trade zone on Lomes harbor. Desenne said it has capacity to produce 18,000 t/y. Until the new plant opened, the company supplied West African customers with lubes toll-blended in France.

Avista Crosses Atlantic

Avista Oil AG of Germany acquired a majority stake in Universal Environmental Services, which is building a new rerefinery in Peachtree City, Georgia, U.S. Terms were not disclosed.

Avista already owned a 50 percent stake in UES, enabling it to grow its used oil collection business and plan the base oil rerefinery in Georgia. Private equity groups MidMark Capital and Navigator Partners held the remaining 50 percent.

Plans call for a plant that can process 115 million liters of waste oil per year and be capable of producing API Group II base oil. The project is expected to be completed by the first quarter of 2013.

Avista is based in Uetze, Germany, and operates two rerefineries in Europe. Its plant in Dollbergen, Germany, has 120,000 t/y of Group I capacity, and that in Kahlundborg, Denmark, has 40,000 t/y of Group I capacity. Nine Avista engineers who built the European rerefineries will be in Peachtree City for two years to supervise construction, delivery, operations and training for the plant there.

UES Chief Executive Officer Juan Fritschy noted, This simplifies our organization and aligns our stakeholders interests. We can now concentrate our attention on upgrading our collection network and completing our new rerefinery.

PMC Establishes Polish Company

The PMC Group has set up PMC Hydraulika Sp.z.o.o, in Sczcecin, Northwest Poland. The company focuses on assembling hydraulic and lubrication systems and delivered its first systems in December 2011.

According to Patrik Olsson, who is responsible for setting up the new company and is also Chief Executive Officer at PMC Hytech AB, Ystad, the new company will provide shorter lead times and lower costs for customers in Poland and Central Europe. In addition to operations in Northern Europe, PMC Group also has manufacturing units in China, the U.S., Qatar and India.

Arizona Chemical Signs European Distributor

Arizona Chemical and IMCD Group B.V. have reached an agreement for IMCD to distribute their refinery product lines in Western Europe. IMCD assumes responsibility for the commercial relationship, technical support and logistics for the customers it serves. According to the announcement, this relationship will enable Arizona to focus on gaining a clearer understanding of customer needs and developing improved solutions to serve them.

Established in 1930, Arizona Chemical provides natural pine-based materials to markets including adhesives, inks, coatings, road-marking, tires and rubber, personal care, lubricants, fuel additives, mining and oilfield. The company has over 1,000 employees worldwide and 10 manufacturing plants in the U.S. and Europe.