Mark Townsend

MarkTownsend@lng.com

Recent Articles

Getting Refining Costs Right

Getting Refining Costs Right

The Middle East is gaining a reputation as a supply hub for base oils, and examples abound to support that contention. H …

Prepare for a Different Basestock Market

Prepare for a Different Basestock Market

The basestock industry faces an uncertain future as oversupply exerts pressure on prices and alters market dynamics. Ana …

Oman Oil Bolsters Lubricants Business

Oman Oil Bolsters Lubricants Business

Oman Oil has launched a range of finished lubricants that will be sold in the country and several new export markets. Th …

High Volume, Low Quality

High Volume, Low Quality

Indias growing automobile population offers increased sales opportunities for engine oil suppliers. But the prevalence o …

Nationals Turn Outward

Nationals Turn Outward

Traditionally satisfied to stay at home, national oil companies now are venturing outside their borders. It could mean i …

Transportation Trends

Transportation Trends

The car population in the Middle East is steadily shifting to new vehicles manufactured by Western and Japanese automake …

Which Route to Better Base Oils?

Which Route to Better Base Oils?

The Middle East has seen a flurry of Group II and III projects. Any other refiners considering upgrades have a variety o …

Last Word

Last Word

In 2007, the road to Jeddah seemed paved with gold after Gulf Oil Internationals newly forged joint venture with Dabbagh …

Wax Wanes

Wax Wanes

Closures of API Group I base oil plants are eroding supplies of the most common type of wax. An industry insider forecas …

Luberefs New Pitchmen.

Luberefs New Pitchmen.

Luberef is upgrading and expanding its base oil plant in Saudi Arabia to make Group II base oil. But the more significan …

Bright Stock in Short Supply

Bright Stock in Short Supply

Closures of Group I base oil plants have created a shortage of bright stock. That has spawned investment in new capacity …

Shippers Encounter Rough Waters

Shippers Encounter Rough Waters

A combination of factors is restricting availability of ships that can transport base stocks, especially in the Middle E …

A Study in Sand

A Study in Sand

Its no secret that sand in the sump is bad for engines. But a recent investigation by Lubrizol examined the type and siz …

Enocs Eastern Stage

Enocs Eastern Stage

Emirates National Oil Co. opened a lube blending plant and plans to build it into one of the regions largest. Officials …

Base Oils Flow from Bahrain

Base Oils Flow from Bahrain

A new plant on the Arabian Peninsula is part of Nestes strategy of becoming a leading merchant supplier of API Group III …

Irans Isolation

Irans Isolation

Irans lubricant industry is suffering from international economic sanctions. Trade blocks are hampering domestic supplie …

Middle Easts Lonely Boom: Industrial Lube Demand Grows, But Suppliers Remain Few

Middle Easts Lonely Boom: Industrial Lube Demand Grows, But Suppliers Remain Few

Industrial activity in the Middle East has expanded in recent years, and so has demand for industrial lubricants. Even s …

Indias Becoming a Lubricants Behemoth (Almost)

Indias Becoming a Lubricants Behemoth (Almost)

India has become the third largest consumer of finished lubricants in the world, but opinion is still divided on the fut …