Truth in Advertising: BP v. Royal Purple
Royal Purple Ltd. was black and blue after BP Lubricants USA
took it to task over advertising claims for its synthetic motor oil, finding a
receptive audience in the advertising industry’s self-regulatory forum.
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Base Oil Flows from Modrica
Rafinerija ulja Modriča this week began producing API Group III base stocks at its reconstructed plant in Modriča, Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Modriča refinery stopped producing base stocks in 1992 after the start of the Bosnian War.
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Nynas Adds Houston Hub
Nynas Naphthenics is building a blending and storage
hub in Houston with 25 tanks and 55,000 cubic meters of storage capacity to
help meet growing demands for its base oils, tire oils and transformer oils.
Completion is expected by the end of 2009.
[FULL STORY]
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German Rerefinery Shuttered
Used oil recycler Baufeld shut down its Duisburg, Germany, rerefinery last month in conjunction with an expansion by parent company Puralube. The combination of those developments raised the quality of base stocks produced by the combined companies, although the overall capacity actually decreased.
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Parts Supplier Acquires Keltner
Atlantic Pacific Automotive LP has acquired Keltner
Enterprises, which distributes motor oil, chemicals and aftermarket parts
throughout the United States. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
[FULL STORY]
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Synlube Sales Boost Cognis
Cognis’ functional products business unit – including its
synthetic lubricants business – reported sales of €948 million (U.S. $1.3
billion) for the full year 2008, a 4.4 percent increase from €908 million in
2007.
[FULL STORY]
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Briefly Noted
Dow Chemical last week completed its $18.8 billion acquisition of Rohm and Haas... BASF said it expects to close its CHF 6.1 billion (U.S. $5.4 billion) acquisition of Ciba April 9... Chevron sold its stake in Chevron Uganda, including a lube blending plant in Kenya, to Total Uganda... ChemPoint, a Univar company, is distributing Westlake Chemical Corp.'s Epolene polymers, used as lubricants for PVC, release agents, etc., in the U.S. and Canada.
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U.S. Base Oil Price Report
The U.S. base oil market scrambled to redefine pricing normalcy this week. The shuffle between the buy and sell sides followed the round of price cuts initiated by producers within the last few weeks.
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Europe/MidEast/Africa Base Oil Price Report
What a difference a week makes. Base oil pricing has splintered into regional variations; instead of clear movement across the European market, certain areas have pushed price levels up, whilst other areas have moderated or dropped from levels mentioned a week ago.
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SSY Base Oil Shipping Report
The past couple of weeks have seen a wave of chemical cargoes fixed to Asia, with material from the U.S. Gulf, Europe and Middle East. The United States in particular has been drained of all scheduled carriers, indeed of most kinds of chemical tanker, large or small, with the result that freight rates have soared.
[FULL STORY]
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