The recently upgraded lab in St. Petersburg is the only one offering more specific methods of used oil analysis. The company claims it is the only such high-tech oil condition monitoring lab in the country.

The lab can test oil samples for viscosity, flash point, dilution, water content, sludge content and acid and base numbers. Lubricants now are in our focus because we increased the test methods and sorts of specialty oils and fluids that we can test, said Andrei Zhdanov, head of the St. Petersburg laboratory.

SGS said the new facility will offer a complete range of oil condition monitoring services to many Russian industries, including factories, automobile fleet operators, rail, shipping, mining and power generation. It uses SGSs centralized system to gather and analyze data on engines and other pieces of equipment located around the country.

Lanxess Absorbs Chemtura

Lanxess AG plans to form a new performance additives segment and become a bigger player in industrial lubricant additives after the closing of its U.S. $2.5 billion all-cash acquisition of Chemtura. The deal is expected to close in mid-2017, subject to conditions and approvals.

The new performance additives segment would consist of Lanxess Rhein Chemie Additives business unit, along with Chemturas two additive segments – its lubricant additives and synthetic lubricant business, for industrial applications such as power generation and aviation; and its brominated flame-retardant additives, elemental bromine and bromine derivativeness business.

Anno Borkowsky, head of Rhein Chemie Additives, noted that Chemtura holds a competitive position in industrial lubricant additives and also manufactures the necessary precursors and intermediates. Combined with our own additives portfolio, we will be a major supplier for industrial lubricants and will further strengthen our competitiveness through our integrated value chain, Borkowsky said in a news release.

Cologne, Germany-headquartered Lanxess indicated it expected the industrial lubricant additives market to grow at an annual rate of 3 percent to 4 percent in the medium term, primarily driven by steadily increasing requirements with respect to the performance and environmental sustainability of lubricants. The company said growth drivers for industrial lubricants include increasing demands on performance, rising labor protection standards and higher demands on environmental performance.

With this acquisition, we are forming a champion in the field of additives and are strengthening our already profitable portfolio, Matthias Zachert, chairman of the Lanxess management board, said in a news release. We are significantly building on our competitive positioning in medium-sized markets and increasing our presence in North America. Lanxess noted that about 45 percent of Chemturas revenue is generated in North America. In addition to additives, synthetic base oils, specialty lubricants and greases, Chemturas portfolio includes urethanes and organometallics.

UAE Drafts Fuel Economy Standard

Gulf News reported in late September that the Emirates Authority for Standardization and Metrology (ESMA) issued a draft fuel economy standard designed to slash vehicle emissions. In a statement, officials said the new standard will play a key role in helping the UAE achieve its emission reduction targets and support the countrys sustainability agenda in line with UAE Vision 2021.

When adopted by the UAE Cabinet, the proposed standard has the potential to deliver annual fuel savings worth Dh9.5 billion, representing carbon savings equivalent to removing 4.5 million cars from the UAEs roads by 2035. According to the statement, Lower greenhouse gas emissions are also in keeping with the spirit of the UAEs September 21 signing of its Paris Agreement commitment, which agrees to cut carbon emissions…to halt global warming.

Development of the new standard was approved at a meeting of the public-private UAE body known as the Ecological Footprint Initiative (EFI), formed in 2007 to help research and reduce the countrys footprint. The group comprises the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment, Water and Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi, ESMA, Emirates Wildlife Society-World Wildlife Fund and the Global Footprint Network.

Razan Al Mubarak, secretary-general of the Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi and Co-Chair and Sponsor of the EFI said that the new standard is a significant step to help make the countrys vehicle fleet more fuel efficient, addressing one of the countrys main sources of greenhouse gas emissions and supporting the transition to a low-carbon economy.

ESMA Director-General Abdullah Al Maeeni said, According to our research, consumers will recover any additional costs of buying more fuel-efficient cars within one to four years and will then benefit from significant lifetime savings, ranging from U.S. $2,400 to $3,500 per vehicle.

Ida Tillisch, director-general of the EWS-WWF, which acts as the EFI secretariat and leads research efforts for the policy initiative, said the new measure has the potential for major reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and is a significant step towards realizing the UAEs commitment to limit our contribution to climate change. At the same time, it decreases consumption and yields significant savings for consumers.

Ineos to Build PAO Plant

Ineos Oligomers announced plans to significantly grow its low-viscosity polyalphaolefin business by building the worlds largest single train low-viscosity PAO plant. The industry needs an increased supply of high quality base oils, such as PAO, to formulate the next generation of advanced lubricant products, CEO Bob Learman said in a news release. Ineos is making the commitment to invest in both PAO capacity and LAO feedstock supply to ensure PAO is a viable and secure long-term formulation option.

The company expects the 120,000 tons per year unit to be on-stream in the first half of 2019. The new plant will provide additional capacity and security of supply. In addition, it will make our overall production capability more flexible, which is important in supporting new products we plan to introduce to the market, said the companys Business Director Joe Walton.

Ineos has also completed a debottlenecking of its La Porte, Texas, U.S. plant, producing low-viscosity grades and has optimized production runs at its plant in Feluy, Belgium. The projects have increased its low-viscosity PAO capacity by approximately 15 percent. Ineos also has an engineering project to mechanically debottleneck the Feluy PAO plant, providing the option to add a further 15 percent to its capacity by early 2018.

In addition to investment in its low viscosity grades, Ineos previously announced a 20,000 t/y high-viscosity PAO unit at its La Porte plant to be commissioned in the first quarter of 2017. The unit, will use the companys metallocene high-viscosity PAO technology. Ineos also confirmed that it has decided to build a 420,000 t/y LAO unit at Chocolate Bayou, Texas, to produce the raw materials used by its PAO units.

Gazpromneft Expands in Colombia & Balkans

Gazpromnefts Colombian representative, Petrolubs, announced that it will establish four new distribution centers in the country in 2017 at a cost of U.S. $1 million. Petrolubs President Jaime Lafaurie said the centers will be located in Bucaramanga, Buenaventura, Medellin and Cali. Current distribution centers are located in Bogota, Cartagena, Santa Marta and Barranquilla.

Petrolubs is also investing $300,000 in a new laboratory at its Barranquilla headquarters. In addition, the company plans to build laboratories near each distribution center. The company expects 2016 lubricant sales volumes to reach 4,000 tons, and forecasts an increase to 25,000 tons by 2020, boosting its market share to 7 percent. Gazpromneft also plans to build a lubricant blending plant in Colombia, to support its market expansion in the region.

In other news, Gazpromneft Lubricants opened its first service station in the Balkans as part of its G-Energy Service program. The G-Energy Service station, located in a suburb of Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, is equipped with seven oil-changing stations. It also offers a range of technical services.

The G-Energy Service initiative is an international program that supports partner service centers to help source specialist equipment, train staff, and fit out new service centers. G-Energy Service is expected to expand throughout Russia, the CIS, Western Europe, the Middle East and elsewhere.

ATIEL Issues New Letter of Conformance

ATIEL has issued a new version of the Lubricant Marketers Letter of Conformance to clarify the responsibilities of signatories and the brands covered by an LoC. The changes are aimed at ensuring signatories understand their commitments under the European Engine Lubricant Quality Management System by distinguishing between obligations for signatories who develop or manufacture lubricants that they market and those for signatories who market lubricants developed or manufactured by third parties.

To claim compliance with the system, lubricant marketers must sign an LoC confirming that their products making ACEA claims are developed and manufactured in accordance with its requirements. The new version of the LoC took effect on 1 November and requires signatories to provide details of the lubricant brands covered by an LoC. This aim is to provide greater transparency around products that make performance claims against the ACEA Oil Sequences and that have been developed in accordance with the EELQMS.

The new version of the LoC is available at www.atiel.org/code-of-practice/letters-of-conformance and will be included in the next Issue of the ATIEL Code of Practice.

Lukoil to Enter Africa

LLK-International, a subsidiary of Russias Lukoil, plans to enter the African lubricants market, mainly in Egypt, South Africa and Nigeria. Lukoil Lubricants Co. CEO Maxim Donde stated in a news release, Africa today is one of the few regions with organic growth in consumption of lubricating materials. In general, they are far from the global averages by number of cars per 1,000 population. They will start to catch up, which will boost consumption of lubricating materials.

Lukoil has an annual production of 1 million tons from nine plants in Russia, Belarus, Austria, Finland, Romania and Turkey. The company also has contract manufacturing arrangements with 26 plants around the world.

Puralube, NexLube Team Up in Florida

Puralube and NexLube Tampa have formed joint venture Puraglobe Florida LLC that plans to complete and commission NexLubes API Group III rerefinery in Florida by the end of 2018. The refinerys production capacity will be in the range of 1,040 to 1,170 barrels per day, Puralube President and CEO Andreas Schueppel said in an interview. According to Schueppel, the joint venture will act as the rerefinerys operator, while Puralube will serve as the JVs parent company and have the majority stake in the venture. Ownership percentages and financial details were not disclosed.

The refinerys processing plant will use patented HyLube catalytic processing technology developed by UOP, a Honeywell company. Puralube acquired exclusive rights to the technology in 1995. Schueppel explained that the company can produce Group III base oils from standard used motor oils. We do not need a special type of feedstock, he said. The refinery will be the first producer of Group III base oil in the U.S. market, based on used motor oils.

Puralube also plans to upgrade one of its rerefineries in Troeglitz, Germany, set to be commissioned in 2017. With that upgrade, the site will have 50,000 t/y of Group III production and 50,000 t/y of Group II+ production.

Nynas Opens U.S. Depot

Nynas has extended its storage capacity and distribution network for naphthenic specialty oils with a depot in Perth Amboy, New Jersey, United States. The new depot joins four other North American facilities. According to plans, deliveries from the depot will start in the late fourth quarter 2016.

The first products to be introduced to this depot will be T 22, which can be used in areas such as the formulation of metalworking fluids, and the heavy naphthenic tire oil Nytex 810, with expansion plans to include our heavier grades and transformer oil, said Blair Krauter sales manager, Nynas Naphthenics USA & Canada.

Edward Skelton, head of supply chain Nynas Naphthenics Americas, said the new depot also opens up the shipping channel for products we only produce in Europe to a storage location where products have the highest demand. As products will be supplied from Nynas European refineries, all products will be registered under REACH.

Brenntag Expands in North America

Brenntag has acquired Mayes County Petroleum Products Inc., a lubricant and fuel distributor headquartered in Pryor, Oklahoma, United States. Mayes County Petroleum Products sells, markets and distributes lubricants, fuel and chemicals to industrial, commercial, construction, mining and agricultural consumers mainly in Oklahoma. The transaction is subject to contractually agreed closing conditions.

Brenntag stated in a news release that the acquisition fits its strategy of being a market consolidator in selected regions of North Americas lubricants distribution market. Anthony Grace, Brenntags managing director, mergers and acquisitions, added that the acquisition is a valuable addition to the J.A.M. platform that Brenntag acquired in December 2015. It …strengthens our existing business in the less volatile lubricants market and will lead to a geographical expansion into the adjacent Oklahoma market.

New Name for Honeywell Nigeria

Lagos, Nigeria based Honeywell Oil & Gas Ltd. announced that it has changed its business name to HOGL Energy Ltd. Managing Director Olatokunbo Amosu said, The change of name is in line with our renewed business focus, which is to position the company to take advantage of emerging opportunities in Nigeria, indeed West Africas, oil and gas market. This name change therefore reflects the current and future direction of the company.

Amosu added that the company will continue to play a significant role in marketing and distribution of white fuels and lubricants to industrial, commercial and retail customers in Nigeria and West Africa. HOGL serves more than 200 industrial customers in different sectors of the economy.

Repsol & Pertamina Sign Indonesia Deal

Repsol Lubricantes & Especialidades Sa and Pt Pertamina signed an agreement to develop a treated distillate aromatic extract plant at Pertaminas Cilacap Refinery. The plan calls for the plant to have production capacity of about 60,000 tons per year of TDAE for the rubber and tire industry, mainly in ASEAN markets. It is scheduled to be fully operational during 2019.

Petrol Offisi Sells Terminal

Turkeys OMV Petrol Ofisi has agreed to sell its terminal in Aliaga, near Izmir, Turkey, to a group of international investors, headed by the state oil company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR). The deal is expected to close by the end of this year, subject to approval by relevant government authorities.

The company said the sale of the terminal will not impact the planned sale of Petrol Ofisi by parent company OMV AG. Petrol Ofisi AS operates 1,785 retail outlets in Turkey and owns the countrys largest fuel storage and logistics business.