Adrian Brown is away this week. His column will reappear in the Nov. 29 issue.

BOLOGNA, Italy – Rising performance demands will force heavy-duty engine oil formulations to shift from API Group II to Group III base stocks and eventually to Group IV and V, a Volvo official told an industry conference here recently. Volvo Heavy-duty Oil System Engineering Leader Magnus Horn told the Annual Congress of the Union of the European Lubricant Industry that original equipment manufacturers will also have to develop different oil specifications for different engines and that th...

Two rerefineries are projected to start operation in Egypt and Algeria in 2018, each producing API Group II base oil, according to industry sources. Hitech Oils and Greases owns the project in Egypt, and Rebex Oil Group owns the one in Algeria. Since I believe that Africa is the future and that there is a huge potential for growth in the African continent, we are starting Relubes, the Group II plant in Egypt, so that by the time the demand in high-performance lubes increases, we will be ready to...

Russian oil major Rosneft began shipping an emergency supply of base oils and other petrochemical products to Cuba earlier this year after the Caribbean islands primary supplier, Petroleos de Venezuela (PdVSA), cut regular shipments because of financial problems, a consultancy said. Last year Rosneft bought a 49.9 percent stake in Houston, Texas-based Citgo, state owned Pdvsas refining and lubricants and fuels marketing subsidiary in the United States. Rosneft, Russias second-largest lubricant m...

Synthetic metalworking fluids are expected to grow at a compound annual rate of 3 percent to 3.5 percent by 2021, according to Kline & Co. consultancy. Not all industry players, however, are convinced synthetic fluids are a superior option to semi-synthetics. A 2015 study conducted by Caterpillar Inc. found synthetic metalworking fluids have a longer sump life, yield lower operating costs and offer better lubricity than semi-synthetic alternatives. Photo: Clariant/Flickr Synthetic metalwork...

Elco Corp. parent Detrex and global specialty chemicals company Italmatch Chemicals have entered into a merger agreement, the companies jointly announced early last week. Italmatch will pay $27 per Detrex share, or nearly $45.9 million cash, to create a new subsidiary. The deal is expected to close by Dec. 31. Cleveland, Ohio-based Elco, Detrexs operating subsidiary, manufactures high performance specialty chemicals. Elcos primary business areas include additives such as antioxidants, extreme pr...