WASHINGTON, D.C. – After 17 years on the market, the API CF-4 heavy-duty diesel engine oil category was declared obsolete last month by the American Petroleum Institutes Lubricants Committee here. Beginning immediately, no new licenses for the category will be accepted or issued. API CF-4 will be removed from the slate of licensed products and all CF-4 licenses will expire on or before June 30, 2008.

The end of CF-4 comes after a key engine test for the category – the 600-hour Mack T-6 test that measures piston and ring wear, viscosity change and oil consumption – became unavailable. The Engine Manufacturers Association, which represents diesel engine builders, agreed that without the test, CF-4 licensing needs to be discontinued, Kevin Ferrick of API told the June 5 meeting. In its place, API will encourage licensees to upgrade their products to at least CH-4, which is fully backward-compatible with the expiring category.

Although it is now obsolete, few expect CF-4 to disappear soon. You can use current CF-4 chemistry for as long as it exists, right? questioned one meeting participant. Thats so, confirmed Ferrick and others. The essential difference will be that API will not license the product, so marketers wont be able to show the API trademarked donut logo on their containers. The change does not affect the licensing of oils meeting API CF and CF-2, as those diesel oils still have tests in place.

Details on APIs engine oil licensing program are on the web at www.api.org/eolcs

Faces in the News

Hangsterfers Laboratories Inc., the Mantua, N.J., metalworking lubricants manufacturer, has named Leslie Jones as president, succeeding her mother, Ann Jones, in the position. Starting with the company in 1974, Jones most recently held the position of vice president, overseeing manufacturing and finance. She is also a past president of ILMA.

Tiffany Kyllmann has been promoted to vice president of Petroferm Inc., based in Fernandina Beach, Fla. In the new position, she will also retain her role as business director for two Petroferm businesses, Lambert Technologies and Joseph Storey.

Middlebury, Conn.-based Chemtura Corp. has named Rick Beitel vice president of global sales, performance specialties, responsible for sales growth for areas including transportation and industrial lubricants and greases, urethane products, optical monomers, organo-metallic catalysts and compounds, and fluorines. Beitel most recently was Chemturas vice president of sales excellence, and also has been with Dow Polyurethanes.

Richard C. Clark is the new vice president of products for Warren Oil Co., in Marion, Ill. He was formerly with Superior Lubricants.

Rob Wampler has joined Hercules Paper Technologies and Ventures as global market manager for lubricants. Based in Wilmington, Del., he will be responsible for establishing long-term business strategies and growth opportunities for the lubricants business. Previously with Chemtura, Gulf Oil and Lubrizol, Wampler brings years of sales, marketing and business management experience to the company.

The National Petrochemical & Refiners Association has added Bill Holbrook to its Washington, D.C., team as communications director. He joins NPRA from the Electric Power Supply Association, after also serving with the U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee and the White House Council on Environmental Quality.

David Johnson is the new general manager at Burck Oil Co., a Petro-Canada, Lubriplate and Chemtool distributor based in West Palm Beach, Fla. He brings with him over 30 years of experience in the industry, including 19 years with Quaker State.

Cris Watson has joined Archway Sales as a sales representative for the southern region, covering Arkansas, Tennessee and Louisiana. He brings with him 24 years of chemical industry experience.

Downtick in 1Q Lubes Sales

Total U.S. lubricant sales volumes in the first quarter of 2007 fell 5.7 percent from the same period of 2006, according to data released by the National

Petrochemical and Refiners Association.

Released last month, the NPRAs Quarterly Index of Lubricant Sales showed that the first quarter decline was led by grease sales, which saw an 11.7 percent drop in volumes compared to the year-ago quarter. In the automotive lubricant segment, sales volumes slipped 6 percent, industrial lubes were off by 5.7 percent and process oils dipped by 4.5 percent.

The associations report also summarized the U.S. Department of Energy quarterly statistics, which showed an overall first-quarter base oil output of nearly 15 million barrels, including paraffinic base oil production of 12.4 million barrels and naphthenic output of 2.5 million barrels.

Yukos Base Oil Assets Auctioned

Neft-Aktiv, a subsidiary of Russian state-controlled oil and gas company Rosneft, has acquired base oil plants in Angarsk and Novo-Kuibyshev, Russia, through bankruptcy auctions of the assets of oil refiner Yukos Oil Co. Included were 100 percent of Novokuibyshev Oils & Additives Plant and Angarsk Petrochemical Co.

The Novokuibyshev acquisition came through a 175.7 billion ruble (U.S. $6.8 billion) bid for 37 pieces of Yukos assets on May 3. The Angarsk acquisition came a week later, in a separate 165.5 billion ruble (U.S. $6.4 billion) bid for 28 other Yukos-owned enterprises. Previously, Rosneft owned two refineries, as well as four major oil export terminals and a nationwide network of about 700 service stations.

Universal Lubricants Grows Recycling

Lubricant manufacturer Universal Lubricants LLC announced last month that it will expand its environmental services division by adding a 5-acre lube recycling facility to its property in north Wichita, Kan. Construction is expected to begin in August, with completion scheduled for late 2008 or early 2009. The new facility will use a proprietary process that recycles used oil that is suitable for recycling and returns it to new oil quality standards so that it can be used several times over, said the company. The facility initially will focus on industrial and commercial products. Ultimately, our goal is to offer a green product line that you can buy at your local retail center, said company CEO Mike Maloney.

Sinopec Plants a Foot Offshore

Last month, Sinopec produced its first barrel of lubricants in Singapore. The Chinese government-owned oil companys new lubricants manufacturing operation is the companys first offshore manufacturing base, according to a Singapore Economic Development Board official.

In a statement the company said, After the production is realized in the Asia Pacific region, Sinopec will aggressively continue to seek common development with the markets of Asia Pacific region, providing comprehensive lubricant solutions for industrial customers.

Sinopecs entry into the Singapore market makes its presence more known in the international arena, according to Geeta Agashe, director of the petroleum and energy practice at consultants Kline & Co. As ExxonMobil, Shell, BP, Total, Valvoline, Petronas, and the Japanese companies like Nippon Oil, Idemitsu and others compete in Sinopecs backyard – China – Sinopec wants to compete against them in other Asia Pacific markets, she explained.

Angus Puts $10 Million into R&D Plant

Angus Chemical Co., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Dow Chemical, plans to build a $10 million research and development pilot plant in Sterlington, La., to assist in scale-up and validation of next-generation nitroalkane-based products. Angus expects to break ground in 2008 and begin product validation in 2010. Through the validation process, the company learns how products will work on a larger scale before making the decision to scale-up production. Both Angus and sister company Dow Biocides make biocides used in metalworking fluids and other applications.

Laboratory Crosscheck Program Expands

ASTM is launching two new Interlaboratory Crosscheck programs to provide statistical tools that enable laboratories to maintain or improve a high level of performance in conducting routine ASTM tests, by comparing results with other laboratories. The two added programs are hydraulic fluids and oils, and in-service hydraulic fluids and oils. For each, test data from the completed determinations will be submitted electronically to ASTM International. Each participant will receive an electronic summary report containing coded laboratory results, a statistical analysis of the test data, and charts plotting test results versus lab code. For details, visit www.astm.org and look under proficiency testing.

Kline Adds Dubai Office

Consulting and market research firm Kline & Co., based in Little Falls, N.J., has announced the opening of a new office in Dubai, UAE, with an eye to reaching energy and petrochemical industry clients in the Middle East. Our strategy has been to establish offices in the key regions where our clients are located or aspire to be operating, said the companys CEO, Joe Tarantola. The Middle East has emerged as a production and logistics center for petroleum and petrochemicals, with companies capitalizing on the regions inherent strategic advantages namely feedstock, location, and low capital cost, the company noted.