The celebration included a tour of the Oak Point Plant, which has an interesting start up story. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States Navy was anxious to secure production of critical oil additives for the surviving Pacific and Atlantic submarine fleets. They felt an additional, centrally located plant was needed to improve national security and asked Oronites parent, Standard Oil of California, to establish the facility.

The amazing part of the story is that Standards board took only 30 minutes to agree, and the plant shipped the first tank car of diesel engine additives just two years and three months after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Due to the scarcity of steel, Oak Point was constructed from equipment bought, dismantled and transported from an obsolete refinery in Shreveport, Louisiana. Think that would be possible today?

We congratulate Oronite on its 100th birthday and wish the company well for the next 100 years.

Wed also like to give your company a reason to celebrate this year. If your target market is the EMEA lubricant industry, think about advertising in our July issue. Weve engaged Readex Research, a U.S.-based marketing research firm, to gage our readers perceptions of the ads in that issue. The purpose of the survey is to help advertisers communicate more effectively with LubesnGreases Europe-Middle East-Africa readers through their ads.

This is a great opportunity to determine how successfully your messaging is reaching the decision makers in the EMEA region. Our advertising team will be happy to help you deliver your message to your customers. Contact David Stanworth at DStanworth@LubesnGreases.com, Matt Rogers at MRogers@LubesnGreases.com or
Megan Matchett at Megan@LubesnGreases.com.

Winners will be announced in September. We look forward to celebrating with you.

– Richard Beercheck
Dick@LubesnGreases.com