Zavenir brings to the venture its domestic infrastructure in marketing and sales of specialty chemical products, the companies said in a statement. The new entity will aim to increase the manufacturing, marketing and sales of all Kluthes products and technologies in the fields of metalworking fluids, surface treatment and paint management.

Kluthe makes general-purpose cooling lubricants, water-soluble cutting oils, emulsifiable cooling oils, nonwater- and water-miscible machining liquids such as volatile punching oils and drawing oils, and more under its Hakufluid and Hakuform brands. Zavenir has in the past built up a leadership position in the Indian corrosion-prevention markets, said Zavenir Managing Director Saket Bhartia. Zavenir Kluthe aspires to become a top-3 player in the 20 billion rupees [U.S. $312 million] metalworking fluids market by 2020.

Adnoc Seeks Downstream Investors

Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. unveiled a plan to open its downstream business to international investors, a development that could significantly alter the base oils landscape in the Middle East. Adnoc owns Takreer, a refiner producing API Group II and III base oils at its plant in Ruwais, United Arab Emirates. The plant can produce up to 500,000 tons per year of Group III and 100,000 t/y of Group II base oils. Approximately 50,000 t/y is earmarked for Adnoc Distribution.

Adnoc is opening the business to create new investment and partnership opportunities, according to Group CEO Sultan Al Jaber. We are offering strategic partnerships and co-investments across our service and refining businesses and select infrastructure assets, such as Adnoc pipelines and storage facilities, which weve not done before.

Unconfirmed press reports said Adnoc Distribution – which markets finished lubricants – is considering a public listing that may attract a valuation of up to U.S. $14 billion. Adnoc Distributions media relations department did not reply to an inquiry about the accuracy of the report and valuation.

Analysts said Adnocs receptiveness to partnering contrasts with recent decisions by regional refiners. Bahrains Bapco will end its marketing agreement with Finnish base oil refiner and marketer Neste in October, mirroring Takreers earlier decision to pursue its own marketing strategy after protracted discussions with Neste.

Johnny Stewart, principal analyst at Wood commented, The recent announcement by Adnoc represents a cultural shift within the companys refining business, as it has historically operated its assets independently of partners. Venturing into partnerships has a number of benefits to both parties. Adnoc will benefit from additional capital, knowledge transfer, shared technical expertise and entry into target export markets. Potential partners will gain access to a world-class refining asset and an advantaged location.

The Middle East has established itself as a base oils hub, as Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and UAE increasingly contribute to global base oil stockpiles. Saudi Aramco is the latest national oil company to announce its entry into the base oils market as it seeks to bolster its downstream assets ahead of a highly anticipated initial public offering.

However, the ongoing diplomatic blockade of Qatar by several Arab countries could jeopardize the Gulfs position as a stable source of base oils because it is fueling concerns that the dispute could escalate and interrupt shipments.

ExxonMobil, GE Partner on Gas Engine Lubes

ExxonMobil and General Electric announced that ExxonMobil is now a preferred global lubricants supplier for GEs Jenbacher Type 2, 3 and 9 gas engines. As part of this global collaboration, ExxonMobil will help owner-operators of Jenbacher gas engines enhance equipment performance through the use of its Mobil Pegasus family of gas engine oils. The companies will also co-engineer high-performance gas engine oil technologies to meet the evolving needs of GE gas engine platforms. Jenbacher engines are commonly used in cogeneration/combined heat and power applications.

Weve built a strong working relationship with GE and many end users over the past two decades, but this new collaboration validates the leadership of our Mobil Pegasus family of lubricants and underscores the many benefits they can help deliver to end users, said Tim Hinchman, Strategic Global Alliance director at ExxonMobil. Through this collaboration, we also look forward to working with GE to engineer new lubricant technologies for Jenbacher gas engines that will help their customers further protect their businesses in the years to come.

Repsol Invests in Puertollano Plant

Repsol is investing 5 million to increase production at its Puertollano blending and packaging facility. Ivn Corral Pedraz, an internal communications officer, said in an interview that the investment will be used for improvements in blending lines, for the installation of new packaging lines, to create additional storage capacity and to increase loading capacity for trucks.

The companys 2017-2021 strategic plan aims to increase total lubricant sales volume to 300,000 tons in Spain and to 1.2 million tons abroad, mainly in Asia and Latin America, according to a press release. Repsol will increase the plants production capacity from 115,000 tons per year to its full capacity of 170,000 t/y. The plant is expected to be operating at full capacity by 2019, Pedraz noted.

Located in La Mancha, Spain, the Puertollano facility is the companys largest lubricant manufacturing facility. Of the roughly 147,000 tons of lubricants sold by Repsol in 2016, about 80 percent were produced at the Puertollano plant.

Gazprom Marine Oil Business Grows

Gazpromneft-Lubricants increased its marine oil sales by 7.5 percent in the first six months of 2017, compared to the year-earlier period, expanding the reach of its sales through integration in the Chevron global logistics network. The company is a licensed manufacturer and dealer of Chevrons Texaco-branded line of marine oils. In the first half of 2017, the company sold 7,400 tons of marine oils, up 555 tons from the same period last year, the company said.

In Russia, the company expanded its marine lube sales in the Caspian Sea ports of Astrakhan and Makhachkala. Gazpromneft-Lubricants will supply Rosmorport agency with 1,500 tons of oils during a three year period.

The most demanded products in the first half of 2017 were cylinder engine oils Texaco Taro 30 DP 40 and Delo 1000 Marine 40 for four-stroke marine engines, a company representative reported. We also increased nine-fold, to 140 tons, the sales of lubricants for marine engines operating on low sulfur and environmentally friendly fuel.

Bollor Zambia Snags Total Lubricants Contract

Bollor Logistics Zambia has been awarded a 5-year contract to distribute lubricants by Total Zambia. Bollor will provide local distribution services of lubricants from two main Total depots in Lusaka and Ndola to 15 destinations within Zambia. Three dedicated trucks of 5, 10 and 20 tons were purchased for this project. A six-person staff has been assigned to this project, including four drivers and two operations supervisors.

AXEL Installs Calcium Sulfonate Grease Line

AXEL Christiernsson BV announced that its calcium sulfonate complex grease line has entered full production. The line comprises a 10 metric ton cooker and 12 ton finisher, and is controlled by programmable logic control.