With oversupply of ships and corresponding weak rates, the markets are not really performing as would be expected at the back end of October. U.S. Gulf On routes to the Far East, a battle of wills is developing between owners and charterers over the direction of rates. Owners have been attempting to lift rates by 10-15 percent from the very low levels of September, when the route was heavily overtonnaged. Charterers are resisting the increases and are holding back on some of their requirements u...

HollyFrontier is in advanced talks to acquire Suncor Energys Petro-Canada lubricants division via auction for a little over $1 billion, Reuters reported on Oct. 21. Citing unnamed sources, the report said HollyFrontier submitted the highest bid and that the reason was to enable HollyFrontier to diversify its refining business while providing Suncor cash to help it pay down debt due to recent acquisitions. The report said negotiations were not finalized and the outcome could still change. We have...

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz.-Organic growth may not be in the cards for the lubes industry, but the market is far from stagnant, Annie Jarquin of Kline & Co. told the Independent Lubricant Manufacturers Associations members at their annual meeting here last week. It may be flat, but theres so much happening within it, Jarquin reminded the group. The key question for lubricant blenders, she said, is Can you react fast enough to keep up with the changing dynamics within this flat demand? North America c...

The majority owners of Bulgarian lube maker Prista Oil Group have repurchased a 30 percent stake held jointly by an institutional investor and a private equity firm. Brothers Atanas and Plamen Bobokov said the four-year involvement of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and ADM Capital helped stabilize the company and that is prepared to resume a growth track under the Bobokovs full control. Photo: Prista Oil Prista Oil operates blending plants in Ruse, Bulgaria (pictured), and...

Pennzoil and Quaker State will roll out new packaging for their one-quart and multi-quart motor oil bottles starting Nov. 1. According to an announcement, Pennzoil will switch to all-yellow bottles/jugs, while Quaker State will change to all-green bottles/jugs. Distribution will be stacked, with the rollout to the new packaging to retailers over the next few months and into 2017. The current Pennzoil packaging uses a variety of colors, including black for Ultra Platinum full synthetic motor oil;...

Sales for Heritage-Crystal Cleans oil business segment were flat for the quarter ending Sept. 10, and WD-40 posted increased net income for the quarter ending Aug. 31, the fourth quarter of its fiscal year, compared to a year earlier. Heritage-Crystal Clean Elgin, Illinois-based Heritage-Crystal Cleans oil business segment, which includes used oil collection and rerefining activities, reported $30.6 million in revenues for the fiscal quarter ending Sept. 10, unchanged from the sales amount in th...