Ineos Oxide will double the size of its planned ethylene oxide and ethylene oxide derivatives facility to be built in the United States to 520,000 metric tons. Ethylene oxide is an intermediate chemicals used in the production of polyethylene glycols.

Fuchs Petrolub expanded its operations in Kaiserslautern, Germany, doubling warehouse capacity and creating space to increase production, the company announced last month.

United Kingdom-based lubricant manufacturer United Oil Products relocated its factory from Monmouth in south Wales to Manchester in England.

Slavneft Ramped Up Group III Output in 2018

Russian refining joint venture Slavneft reported that the Group III portion of its Yaroslavl base oil plant ramped up to full production of 100,000 t/y in 2018.

The company is a 50-50 joint venture between Russian state oil companies Rosneft and Gazprom Neft.

The base oil plant at its refinery in Yaroslavl, northeast of Moscow, had capacity to produce 250,000 t/y of Group I oils until April 2017, when it opened a 100,000 t/y Group III upgrade.

Slavneft said it produced a total of 309,000 tons of base oils in 2017, including the Group III output. In 2017, the plant produced 45,000 tons of Group III. The new base oil unit is also capable of making low-viscosity drilling fluids used in crude oil production, according to the company.

Yaroslavls base oil shipments are primarily exported to Europe by land and through the Baltic Sea ports, the main export routes for Russian base oils.

Around 210,000 tons of base oils were shipped to these ports in the first half of 2018, according to Argus. Russian Group II and Group III base oil exports account for 15 percent of the countrys total base oil exports in 2018, according to Berlin-based trading company DYM Resources. Russias total base oil capacity is 2.5 million t/y, according to LubesnGreases 2018 Global Guide to Base Oil Refining.

Doing Deals

Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. announced it signed a long-term sales agreement with the Chinese base oil importer and distribution company Xiamen Sinolook Oil Co. for its ADbase base oil. Adnoc produces up to 500,000 t/y of Group III and 100,000 t/y of Group II base oil at its Ruwais plant.

Saudi Aramco reached an agreement to buy a 70 percent stake in Sabic, one of the worlds largest chemical companies. The proposed U.S. $69 billion transaction is part of Aramcos ongoing effort to expand its downstream and petrochemicals businesses. Both companies supply a variety of chemicals used by the lubricants industry. Soon after the deal for Sabic was announced in late March, Aramco published a prospectus for a $10 billion bond sale that would partly finance its acquisition. In the prospectus, the state-run oil company reported profits of $111 billion for 2018, which would make it by far the largest company in the world.

Finnish rerefiner STR Tecoil recently acquired the used oil collection business from Fortum, a Finnish company in the renewable energy sector. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Kia Motors Italy and Shell Italia signed an extension until 2021 to their agreement for Shell to continue to provide its lubricating oil products to Kia’s service center network.

South Africa’s Competition Tribunal gave its final approval for the merger between Glencore South Africa and Chevron South Africa, which operates the Chevron refinery in Cape Town and the Caltex brand.

The U.K.s Castrol and Gehring, a machine tooling company based in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, announced they would explore ways to increase the efficiency of combustion and engine lubrication.

Dubai-based lubricant manufacturer Dana Lubricants Factory entered into an agreement with Petrogress International, designating Petrogress as the exclusive distributor of Dana Lubricants products in Western Africa.

Additive company Infineum appointed Brenntag Groups subsidiary Multisol Europe as its distributor of lubricant products in Spain, Portugal, Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia, effective March 1.

Fuchs Petrolub signed an agreement to acquire independent lubricant blender Nulon Products Australia, an expansion into the competitive retail market for automotive lubes down under. Terms were not disclosed.

U.S. lube company Valvoline Inc. acquired Serbian lubricant blender Fam for $10.7 million in a bid to expand its presence in Eastern Europe.

Total Spain signed an agreement with Peugeot dealers to become the official recommended lubricants brand for Peugeot automobiles.

Motul and the Automobile Club de l’Ouest extended an agreement to keep Motul as the official lubricant of the 24 Heures Motos, 24 Heures du Mans and the Championnat du Monde d’Endurance competitions.

France-based lubricants manufacturer Kennol was named the official supplier of the Legends Cars European Cup Series Nations for the next three years.

Fakes News

Kenyan authorities arrested five people in connection with a sham oil filling plant disguised as a garage, local media reported. The countrys Anti-Counterfeit Agency seized packaging equipment and counterfeit oil worth $29,798 and also found fake Shell, Total Kenya and National Oil brand labels.

Lubricant counterfeiting is a major problem in Africa, with estimates placing the cost to lubricant manufacturers in the hundreds of millions of dollars per year.