Valero Ponders Paulsboro Sale
Valero Energy is considering selling its Paulsboro, N.J., refinery. Acquired by Valero from Mobil in 1998, it includes one of the only API Group I base oil plants remaining on the U.S. East Coast.
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Will Shell Sell Any GTL?
After many months of silence, Shell last week confirmed that its Pearl gas-to-liquids project in Qatar, which includes about 30,000 barrels per day (over 1 million metric tons per year) of base oil capacity, will begin production in early 2011. However, no decision has been made on availability of the GTL base oils for the merchant market.
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GS Caltex Seeks Piece of India Pie
South Korean base oil refiner GS Caltex plans to invest 3 billion South Korean won (U.S. $2.6 million) to launch a finished lubricants business in India in April, as part of an effort to create new export markets for its products.
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4Q Down, 2009 Up for Calumet
Calumet Specialty Products Partners reported net income of $8.2 million for the quarter ending Dec. 31, 2009, down 55.7 percent from the year-ago period. For the full year, Calumet’s net income rose 39.2 percent.
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Shell Adds Bulk Storage in Dubai
Shell Lubricants has launched a 550-ton bulk finished lubricants storage facility in Jebel Ali Free Zone (Jafza) in Dubai.
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Briefly Noted
Tartu, Estonia-based BaltOil AS will handle lubricant sales in Estonia and Latvia for Neste Oil of Espoo, Finland starting this month … Under a new agreement, Shell is Kia Motors UK’s preferred supplier of lubricants for all aftermarket applications in the United Kingdom… Oxea of Oberhausen, Germany, raised prices on carboxylic acids and polyalcohols by 8 to 15 cents/lb. in the Americas, $50 to $300/t in Europe, and $100 to $300/t in Asia.
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U.S. Base Oil Price Report
U.S. base oil sources say that market activity is on target for late February, with some customer orders showing a sizeable pickup in volumes this week, while other buyers are still dragging behind. But optimism prevails that all consumers' requirements will be up to speed by early April.
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Europe-MidEast-Africa Base Oil Price Report
Following Institute of Petroleum Week and the ICIS World Base Oil Conference in London last week, players are looking to pick up the pieces this week and evaluate how many business opportunities could be forthcoming from the events.
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SSY Base Oil Shipping Report
Shipping is active throughout most of Europe, and the U.S. too is busy and not long on tonnage. Inter-Asian routes are a bit slow to recover after the Lunar Holiday, whereas India and the Middle East continue to thrive.
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