Several routes out of the U.S. Gulf and Europe are reported to be progressing quite nicely with a reasonable amount of demand coming through. Asia is starting to come under the influence of the lunar holidays, and demand is dropping off quickly. U.S. Gulf There will come a point soon in which it will be hard to conclude business on the route to the Far East, since much of Asia will close down for the Chinese New Year celebrations. Right now, however, there is still time to book cargoes and there...

Shell notified U.S. customers this week that prices for its finished lubricants will generally increase by up to 5 percent effective Feb. 20. The company attributed the adjustment in part to increasing costs of raw materials used in the production and delivery of its products. Following several rounds of base oil cuts during the second half of last year – cuts chalked up to sluggish demand and declining feedstock values – a steady climb in crude oil futures drove base oil producers t...

MOSCOW – Ukraine consumed 136 million liters and Kazakhstan consumed 42 million liters of engine oils for on-road vehicles in 2015, according to Moscow consultancy Autostat, which surveyed the two countries for the first time. Along with Russia, the two countries are part of the supranational regional entity called Commonwealth of Independent States. In 2015 Russian consumption of on-road automotive motor oils reached 432 million liters, Viktor Pushkarev, head of projects at Autostat, a Mo...

A turf spat between government agencies has lubricant blenders in Nigeria doing double the paperwork and paying double the fees. Nigerian lube companies must obtain licenses and pay dues to both the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, and the Nigerian Department of Petroleum Resources. Each agency believes blenders fall under its oversight, although blenders believe licensing should only be through the DPR. Emeka Obidike, executive secretary for the Lubricant Producers ...

Brazils National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels raised the minimum performance levels for lubricants sold in Brazil, effective from the end of 2016, requiring them to meet API SL, API CH-4 or corresponding international standards. These minimum performance levels indicate the lubricants capacity to respond to the evolution of equipment, operational conditions, quality and types of fuels, and more recently, environmental regulations, the agency stated in a Jan. 2 press release. So...

HollyFrontier announced changes to its management team related to its pending acquisition of Suncor Energys Petro-Canada Lubricants. Mark Plake will resign as president of subsidiary Holly Logistics Services to preside over Petro-Canada Lubricants. President and CEO of HollyFrontier George Damiris will take Plakes role. Richard Voliva III will be promoted to executive vice president and CFO of HollyFrontier, effective March 1. He replaces Douglas Aron, who will pursue work outside the company bu...