BP/Castrol, ConocoPhillips, CITGO, Petro-Canada and Independents Announce Lube Price Increases
Within the past week or so, BP/Castrol, ConocoPhillips, CITGO, Petro-Canada, Smitty's, Cam2, Chemlube, and ALS all announced finished lubricant prices increases, typically in the range of 28 to 40 cents per gallon, or anywhere from 6% to 10%. These announcements follow those of Shell and Chevron from approximately a week earlier.
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TOTAL and ERG Form Italian R&M JV Company TotalErg
France's TOTAL and Italy's ERG have signed an agreement to create a joint venture in the Italian marketing and refining business. Created through the merger of TOTAL Italia and ERG Petroli, the JV will be called TotalErg and will operate under both the TOTAL and ERG brands. TOTAL and Erg will hold equity stakes of 49% and 51% respectively.
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Afton Chemical 4Q & 2009FY Operating Profit Both More Than Double
Afton Chemical last week reported 2009 full year operating profit improved to $279.8 million, a significant increase over year 2008 operating profit of $130 million. For the fourth quarter 2009, Afton Chemical's results were also up sharply with operating profit of $65.8 million compared to operating profit of $32.5 million for the fourth quarter 2008.
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BRIC Countries to Account for Nearly One-third of Global Lube Demand by 2013
The four BRIC countries accounted for over one-quarter of global finished lubricants demand in 2009. According to data from The Impact of the Global Recession on BRIC Countries, the latest research by Kline & Company, the positive outlook for economic and manufacturing activity coupled with a growing and financially strong middle class will have these countries accounting for nearly one-third of global lube demand by 2013.
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Recent Trends in Lubricating Grease
The latest developments in lubricating greases have shown some amazing results. Greases combining polymer technology with a functional bismuth soap, have resulted in a calculated relubrication interval of 24 (twenty four) times longer than for conventional lithium EP greases. In addition, the coefficient of friction is about 50% below the levels of existing benchmark “low friction” technologies.
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ConocoPhillips Earns $1.2 Billion in 4Q; Chevron Earns $3.07 Billion in 4Q But Down 37%
Last Wednesday, ConocoPhillips became the first major oil company to report fourth quarter 2009 profit results, with net income of $1.2 billion compared with a net loss of $31.8 billion in the fourth quarter 2008. Last Friday Chevron reported earnings of $3.07 billion for the fourth quarter 2009, compared with $4.90 billion in the fourth quarter 2008.
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Valvoline 4Q Lubricant Volume Increases by 22 Percent
Ashland last week reported that Valvoline's December 2009 quarter sales were $400 million, 3 percent above the December 2008 quarter, while total lubricant volume increased by 22 percent versus the prior-year quarter. Overall, Valvoline's earnings for the three months ending December 31, which is the first quarter of Ashland’s fiscal year, was $76 million, as compared with $28 million in the year-ago quarter.
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Synthetic Lubricant Cross Reference Chart Series - SAE 50 Manual Transmission Fluids
The Synthetic SAE 50 Manual Transmission Fluids Chart is the fourth of a 24-chart series of the Fifth Edition of our Synthetic Lubricant Cross Reference Chart Series. This 24-set series consists of over 7,750 (fully) synthetic lubricants marketed by over 500 worldwide lube manufacturing & marketing companies and equipment OEMs.
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