ExxonMobil, Valvoline Announce Lube Price Increases
In a brief letter dated February 1, 2010, ExxonMobil advised customers that it will increase prices of its branded and unbranded lubricants and greases by up to 8% effective March 15, 2010. Valvoline, in a letter dated January 29, 2010, advised customers that it will increase prices of its branded and private label packaged lubricant products by 7% to 9% effective March 1, 2010.
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PETRONAS to Nearly Double Malacca Lube Blending Plant Capacity
PETRONAS Lubricants Sdn Bhd has advised OEM/Lube News that it plans to increase its lube blending capacity from the present 54 million litres to 90 million litres per year at its Malacca Lubricants Blending Plant located at Kawasan Perindustrian Tangga Batu, Tangga Batu, Melaka. The expansion project which began last month, is expected to be completed by the end of February 2011.
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Nationalized Oil Companies 2010: A Competitive Assessment
Given the strong financial clout of many nationalized and private oil companies (NOCs and POCs), they are a threat and challenge to the lubricant businesses of the international oil companies (IOCs). Kline’s new report Nationalized Oil Companies 2010: A Competitive Assessment is designed to help answer a number of strategically and tactically important questions regarding the future outlook for the lubricants industry.
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Lubrizol 4Q and FY2009 Earnings Up Substantially
Lubrizol last Thursday announced consolidated earnings for the fourth quarter of $134 million, including after-tax restructuring and impairment charges of $2 million. In the fourth quarter of 2008 the company reported a consolidated loss of $281 million. Earnings for the full year of 2009 were $501 million compared to a loss of $66 million for the full year of 2008.
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ExxonMobil 4Q Earnings Down 23%; BP & Shell Return to 4Q Profitability
Last week, ExxonMobil reported fourth quarter 2009 earnings of $6.05 billion compared to $7.82 billion during the same period a year earlier. Net income has now fallen for five straight quarters since ExxonMobil set a record for quarterly profit by a U.S. corporation of $14.83 billion in the third quarter of 2008. BP reported that it swung to a fourth-quarter profit of $4.3 billion, while Royal Dutch Shell said it earned $1.96 billion in the fourth quarter after losing $2.81 billion in the same period of 2008.
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Saudi Aramco Luberef II Base Oil Refinery Expanding
A Reuters report last Wednesday stated that Saudi Aramco Lubricating Oil Refining Co (Luberef) has invited Saudi-based companies to bid for the early engineering work to expand its Yanbu refinery. The expansion includes a new lube hydrocracker, raising the capacity of the vacuum distillation unit (VDU), upgrading the electrical facilities and adding new storage tanks
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Asia Pacific Base Oil Market Outlook
Once again, the Asia Pacific base oil market has barely moved. Based on benchmark prices, it is unchanged for seven consecutive weeks now since last Christmas. For this past week, the lighter grades of base oils are oversupplied and this is reflected in flat trading. For heavier grades, there are positive demands and the supply balances it out.
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Eastern Hemisphere Lube Base Oil Price Report
Crude oil prices fell considerably last week, trading in a range of US$77-71 per barrel, with light sweet crude oil closing at just over US$71 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange last Friday. Eastern hemisphere base oil prices showed a downward bias, changing by anywhere from +US$15 to -US$30 per MT, with the most significant decreases being Solvent Neutrals ex-Saudi Arabia and ex-Japan.
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