LLK International, Russia’s biggest lubricant marketer, signed a contract to supply lubricants to the Afghan Ministry of Defense.

The signing occurred during a 26 February meeting in Kabul between LLK officials and Afghan government representatives. Afghan officials present for the signing ceremony included Deputy Defense Minister General Mohibullah, Transportation Minister Daoud Ali Najafi, Energy Minister Ismail Khan and other government and business representatives such as the head of the Kabul chamber of industry and trade, according to RIA Novosti.

Afghan participants confirmed that the country is open to the Russian oil major’s expansion in the market. “Ac-cording to Lukoil’s business strategy, our company’s priority is to expand in the markets of Central Asia and the Middle East,” LLK’s commercial director Alexey Strelchenko told the meeting.

Lukoil made its first efforts to enter the Afghan lubricants market in 2011, but the difficult economic situation in the country depressed sales. “Recently the situation is changing, and Lukoil now observes growth of [lubricants] sales in Afghanistan,” Strelchenko said.

Farewell to Stanlow Base Oil

Essar Energy reached an agreement with its base oil customers that will allow it to shut down the base oil plant at its Stanlow, U.K., refinery within the next couple of months, a com-pany spokesman said in February. The 260,000 t/y API Group I base oil plant is part of a fuels refinery that Essar bought from Shell in August 2011.

Essar has been working toward cessation of base oil production at Stanlow for some time as part of its push to increase margins and profitability, the spokesman added. One issue with the base oil is that the European and U.K. markets are oversupplied, and margins are very low. According to the company, base oil currently represents only two percent of the refinerys output but dictates choice of crudes for around 25 percent of total crude intake at Stanlow.

Essar is also planning to reconfigure some of Stanlows base oil produc-tion units to make feedstock for the refinerys residue catalytic cracking unit. This will be much more efficient, the spokesman said. It wont mean a reduction in overall processing capacity.

According to the spokesman, Essar expects that discontinuing base oil production, coupled with a switch from fuel oil to natural gas to fuel six boilers on the site, will increase margins by U.S. $1 per barrel by the beginning of the 2013-2014 financial year. Together with additional projects, the company expects the Stanlow refinerys margin to be $3 per barrel higher in February 2014 than when it acquired the refinery in August 2011.

Fuchs Profits Rose in 2012

Fuchs Petrolub AG reported 2012 earnings of 207 million on full-year sales revenue of 1.8 billion, up from 2011 earnings of 183 million on sales of $1.7 billion. The Mannheim, Germany-headquartered independent lubricant marketer also announced that, pending supervisory board approval, it proposed a dividend of 1.30 per preference share and 1.28 per ordinary share for financial year 2012, an increase of 30 percent for the preference share.

Fuchs said it generated 140 million in cash flow for 2012. Working to the premise that, despite the known issues, the global economy will enjoy positive development in 2013, Fuchs is planning to further increase its sales revenues and earnings for the financial year 2013, the company stated. However, Fuchs will not be able to repeat the high growth rates recorded in previous years.

Evonik Revives Plans for IPO

Evonik’s owners announced they will revive preparations for a planned listing of the Germany-based specialty chemicals companys shares on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. Owners RAG Foundation and private equity firm CVC Capital Partners said the move is prompted by the improved capital market environment as well as investors’ growing interest in the shares of successful companies. RAG holds 74.99 percent of Evonik and CVC 25.01 percent.

The projected share price was not disclosed; however, the owners said it was in line with the market valuation of European peers and significantly exceeded the price indications of an aborted listing originally planned in June 2012. The companies added that Evonik will continue to pursue its growth strategy and plans investments exceeding 6 billion between 2012 and 2016. A substantial amount of these funds will be dedicated to fast-growing emerging economies, they said.

Pertamina Expands into U.A.E.

PT Pertamina, Indonesias national oil company, is collaborating with Sharjah National Lube Oil Co. (Sharlu) to manufacture and market Meditran Series marine lubricants in the United Arab Emirates from Sharlus blending plant in Fujairah. According to Pertaminas announcement, the target market consists of oil transport ships sailing from the U.A.E.

The production and marketing of Pertamina lubricants in Fujairah is a solution meeting the needs of marine customers, said Ali Mundakir, Pertaminas vice president of communications, in a statement. As examples, Mundakir noted two very large crude oil carriers, VLCC Arenza and VLCC Dewi Maeswara, which carry crude oil from Rastanura-RU, Saudi Arabia, to Pertaminas Cilacap refinery in Indonesia. From now on, they will use Pertamina lubricants, he stated.

The company said its cooperation with Sharlu is not limited to production of the Meditran lubricants series; it will also include transport and delivery to lubricants customers. Headquartered in Jakarta, Pertamina indicated it will contract with toll blenders in some other countries to accelerate expansion abroad. The company said it also plans to grow the business by establishing a marine lubricant distributor network similar to what already exists in a number of other countries.

Gulf Considers Lubes Demerger

Gulf Oil Corp. Ltd. may demerge its lubricants business into a separately listed company, according to an 8 February filing with the National Stock Exchange of India. In the filing, Gulf said its board discussed the matter as part of possible restructuring of various businesses, and that it authorized the committee of directors to consider the matter in detail and make necessary recommendations.

Hyderabad, India-based Gulf Oil is part of conglomerate Hinduja Group. According to Gulfs web site, the company started its lubricants division in 1993 to manufacture and market lubricating oil and greases. In addition to having a network of more than 2,000 distribution outlets in India, it is a major lube exporter.

U.K. Lubes Firm Upgrades Site

Exol Lubricants announced it is investing more than 2 million to redevelop its head office and manufacturing site in the United Kingdom. Redevelopment of the 120,000 square foot (11,150 square meters) site in Wednesbury, West Midlands, will start in July 2013, and is expected to take six months to complete.

The independent lubri-cant manufacturer supplies lubricants and associated products for passenger car, commercial vehicle, agricultural, rail and industrial applications. The company said it is completely overhauling its manufacturing facility to make it more efficient, economical and environmentally friendly.

The project will include demolition of the current Victorian building and construction of a modern, steel-framed, purpose-built facility that will house a new research laboratory and production line. The company also said it will soon announce improvements to its bulk blending site in Rotherham, U.K.

Al Jaber to Distribute Shell Lubes

Middle East Trading (MEET), a company of Al Jaber Group, has signed a distribution agreement with Shell Middle East to distrib-ute Shell lubricants in Abu Dhabi, Al Ain and the western region of United Arab Emirates. The agreement covers distribution of the full range of Shell lubricants products – commercial, industrial, and automotive in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. The companies may extend the agreement to cover Shell Aviation in the U.A.E.

Freudenbergs India Project Progresses

Chem-Trend and Klber Lubrication India, business units of Freudenberg Group, are building a regional technical center in Mysore, India, for their specialty lubricants. Freudenberg is investing 130 Rs. crores (18.4 million) in Mysore, as the companys largest investment in the Asia-Pacific region.

According to a company statement, it has erected the first buildings for the project, which was started in 2011. By 2016, when the project is scheduled for completion, the facility will provide 17,000 square meters of covered space. The total area will be about 40,000 square meters. The company has also acquired an additional 8,000 square meter plot of land. The company said Mysores well developed infrastructure, mild climate, qualified partners and skilled workforce make it a logical choice for future expansion.

The product development laboratories in Mysore will become a regional competence center for specialty lubricants, release agents and maintenance products, Freudenberg stated. The center will serve Freudenbergs customers in Southeast Asia and the Pacific Rim as well as some global needs.

The Mysore sites production plant manufactures specialty lubricants, release agents and maintenance products under the Klber Lubrication, Chem-Trend and OKS brands, which have a variety of applications in industries such as infrastructure, automotive, energy and the food industry.

Freudenberg expects more than 100 jobs will be created in the coming years. Positions in production, quality management, logistics and product development will be filled by chemical and mechanical engineers, managers and other skilled professionals.

Voltrion Launches Ester Production

Start-up manufacturer Voltrion has begun commercial production of electrically polymerized esters for lubricants and greases at a plant in Deinze, Belgium. The production process to obtain electrically treated oil components consists mainly of chemical reactions that rearrange molecules under electrical impulses. Products generated by the reactions are electrically treated natu-ral esters and compounds that are highly viscous and can raise polarity and solubility in base oils.

Voltrion officials said these products can replace or complement commonly available esters or bio bases in the formulation of cutting fluids and emulsions. Besides their main purpose as oiliness agents (more precisely known as boundary lubrication additives), they also enhance characteristics such as tackiness, flash point and viscosity, as well as oxidation stability, surface finish and cleanliness, the company said. Voltrion claims that formulating with electrically treated esters also means reducing the use of other chemistries, which in most cases are not oils and which may not be environmentally friendly.