Base Oil Report: As per reports and information from our sources,Lafarge is set to save $1.5 million through the use of Mobil SHC 600 lubricants and related application expertise, from ExxonMobil Lubricants and Petroleum Specialties Co.. at two of its cement plants, the lubricants maker claims.Reportedly,At the Jordan Cement Co. site in Fuheis, Jordon, the Lafarge-majority-owned site was experiencing unscheduled downtime due to kiln bearings overheating. The kiln faced ongoing stoppages due to support bearings overheating.According to ExxonMobil Lubricants, the previously used lubricant was causing the bearings to reach temperatures of 65°C, causing unscheduled downtime, increased bearing maintenance and higher oil costs.To rectify this problem, Jordan Cement switched to Mobil SHC 639. Mobil SHC 639 lubricants on four support bearings in the middle section. Over a 17-month period, bearing overheating was totally prevented which resulted in an increase in revenue of around $1.7 million, the supplier said.At Lafarge’s Hope Works site in the UK, meanwhile, the company was looking to optimise the lubrication in its new open gear on the no. 2 raw mill.The previous open gear was lubricated by a semi-fluid, solid-based grease, which ran a total loss system. However, this approach caused a number of issues including the large amount of grease that had to be used and disposed of and the thick, black nature of the grease coating making essential periodic gear inspections very difficult and time consuming.Following the introduction of Mobil SHC 639, savings were generated after initial purchase by eliminating an estimated $30,000 per year for the purchase and disposal of the previous grease, as well as providing a safer and more environmentally considerate system. Other benefits included reduced energy consumption through the lubricant reducing internal friction and lowering the operating temperature of the system.

Base Oil Report: As per reports and information from our sources and also having conversation,Group I Base Oil prices in Asian region have been hiked by USD 50-65 PMT by refiners.Prices CFR China is all set to mve up and may quote in the region of USD 1390-1405/1450-1485/1630-1670 PMT for SN-150/500/BrightStock.Reportedly, South Korean Base Oil prices have been marked signifcantly up by refiners.

Base Oil Report: As per reports and information from our sources,Exxon Mobil Corp.said on April l it had restarted unspecified units at its refinery in Torrance, Ca., that had been shut down for unplanned maintenance in early March.Marathon Oil Corp. said March 31 it had restarted an alkylation unit at its 72,000 barrel-a-day Texas City refinery that been shut down for repair on March 28.Valero Energy Corp.said March 31 that the 45,000 barrel-a-day hydrocracker at its Port Arthur, Texas, refinery was shut down for repair.Alon USA Energy Inc. said March 31 it had restarted its 50,000 barrel-a- day refinery in Paramount, Ca., after a months-long suspension of operations.Valero Energy Corp. reported emissions at its Corpus Christi West Plant starting March 29 resulting from the restart of the plant's units. The company said March 30 that the plant was moving to planned rates.Sunoco Inc. reported a power outage at its Marcus Hook, Penn., refinery on March 28. The power returned after a few hours but forced a suspension of operations and hydrocarbon flaring, a Sunoco spokesman said.ConocoPhillips's Los Angeles refinery took its coking unit down for repair, traders said on March 28. The unit wsa expected to restart in mid-April, the traders said.LyondellBasell said on March 28 it continued to overhaul the 110,000 barrel-a- day FCCU at its refinery in Houston, Texas. The FCCU unit turnaround was scheduled for completion in late March.BP PLC will begin about 60 days of scheduled maintenance at Reformer No. 4 and an alkylation unit at its Whiting, Indiana, refinery and the end of March. Separately, planned maintenance at the plant's Pipestill 12 has been delayed by three months; the work was scheduled to begin in November, a person familiar with operations at the refinery said March 25. Valero Energy Corp. said March 24 that approximately 51 days of scheduled turnaround maintenance on a crude and coker unit has concluded at its Port Arthur, Texas, refinery.Valero Energy Corp.'s West Plant HOC is ready to restart and will, in sequence, as all units in the West Plant brought back on line following a plant wide power failure on March 22. No units were damaged as a result of the sudden loss of power. The HOC was shut for unplanned maintenance on Mar. 15.Tesoro Corp. said flaring March 23 at its Wilmington, Calif. refinery would pertain to an unscheduled shutdown and restart of an unspecified process unit to enable replacement of a section of associated piping.Tesoro also said flaring could occur over the weekend at the Wilmington refinery in conjunction with the scheduled shut-down, maintenance and restart of another unrelated, and unspecified process unit.Chevron March 23 notified Calif. environmental regulators of its plan to flare excess emissions from Wednesday to Saturday; the event is not related to equipment breakdown, the company said in a filing.BP PLC March 21 said a weekend upset at its Carson, Calif., refinery involved the shutdown of a hydrotreater unit for unplanned repairs. A restart estimate is not yet available.Valero Energy Corp. said March 21 a hydrocracker unit at its Benicia, Calif., refinery was nearing planned rates after a weekend restart following an unplanned shutdown on Friday.Valero Energy Corp. also on March 21 said the 92,000 barrel-a-day heavy oil cracker in the West Plant at its Corpus Christi, Texas, refinery remained down for repair; it is not expected to be a lengthy outage.Tesoro Corp. said March 21 it will increase crude-oil processing capacity at it's North Dakota refinery by 17% to 68,000 barrels a day by 2nd quarter 2012.BP PLC March 21 began the restart of FCCU No. 1 at it's Texas City, Texas, refinery following planned maintenance that began on about Jan. 12.

Base Oil Report: As per reports and information from our sources,USA finished Lubricants prices have been hiked by in the range of 8 - 12 percent effective last week.by all major refiners and producers like Chevron, Shell, ExxonMobil, ConocoPhillips, CITGO, Petro Canada,Amercican Refining and Nippo Oil USA also set to follow.

Base Oil Report: As per reports and information from our sources,Exxon Mobil Corporation has renewed its partnership with the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes Formula 1 team.Reportedly,The company has said that it has entered into a new multi-year agreement to renew its long-standing technology partnership with the Grand Prix race team.Under the agreement, Exxon Mobil Corporation will continue its support to the team by providing its Mobil 1 lubricant technology, expertise and support to develop next generation lubricants for the race car engine.ExxonMobil orporation ’sLubricants & Petroleum Specialties Company said, “The renewal of the Mobil 1 technology partnership between ExxonMobil and Vodafone McLaren Mercedes represents a commitment to excellence and achievement by two global and like-minded organizations.”

Base Oil Report: As per reports and information from our sources,Valero Mckee Hydrocracker project to commence in April and last 24 days.Exxon Mobil Hyrocracker,Sat. Gas Plant and Mobil CA hydrogen unit shut Feb 1 for several weeks of planned turnaround maintenance.

Base Oil Report: As per reports and information from our sources, CITGO will implement a price increase of 5-8% on lubricants prices after February 3, 2011.The hike is due to escalation in base oil, additive and packaging material costs that have occurred over the past several months. Reportedly.On January 3, 2011, ExxonMobil announced that its branded and unbranded lubricants and greases will increase in price up to 8%, effective February 1, 2011, stating that different price treatment may apply to selected product. Unlike price increase announcements of most other lube oil companies.

Base Oil Report: As per reports and information from our sources,An ongoing drive by machine shops to increase productivity and reduce costs has seen the importance of cutting fluids increase.Cutting fluids have three key functions to perform: lubricating the chip/tool and tool/workpiece contacts to reduce friction, helping to extend tool life and improve the surface finish of the workpiece; cooling the workpiece and tool to dissipate heat in the cutting zone, helping to prevent chip/tool welding and to improve dimensional accuracy; and flushing and removing metal chips (swarf) from the cutting zone.However, with a multitude of factors including the operating environment, machining application and machined metal type all having an impact on a cutting fluid, no one cutting fluid can provide the lubrication, cooling and protection required in each and every operation.As such, lubricant and metal working fluid providers, such as Mobil Industrial Lubricants, has developed a range of fluids to meet many of the varied machining operations in machine shops today.There are two cutting fluid types: neat (straight) and aqueous (soluble/water miscible).Neat fluids are not mixed with water and are used in machining operations such as tapping and threading of high alloy steels, which are beyond the typical performance profile of aqueous coolants.Properly formulated products can improve machining in high-speed automated machining centres through high-quality cutting performance, reduced tool wear and enhanced surface finish.Maintenance professionals should seek products that: are light coloured to allow clear visibility of the workpiece; have low misting characteristics to help workplace safety and product usage; and are chlorine free to support environmental concerns, while balancing with a high degree of lubricity and machining performance. While neat cutting oils are provided in packs for immediate use, aqueous cutting fluids are provided in a concentrate form and must be diluted with water at the machine shop site before use.There are three different types, all with different performance characteristics: milky or conventional cutting fluid - one with a high oil content (60-75 per cent) that forms a milky-looking emulsion on dilution with water; semi-synthetic cutting fluid - one with a low to medium oil content (10-50 per cent) that when mixed with water forms a translucent emulsion that is see through; and synthetic cutting fluid - those that do not contain any oil (chemical solutions) and are generally used for grinding.Second, different concentrations are required for specific machining operations and metal type so it's important that the correct concentration level is used.Using lubricants that are fully compatible with the aqueous cutting fluid is important to help remove the build up of 'tramp oil'.Tramp oil can compromise the effectiveness of the coolant by shortening its effective life and adversely altering cutting performance.

Base Oil Report: As per reports and information from our sources,Exxon Mobil Corp.two weeks of planned maintenance got underway Saturday at an unspecified process unit at its joint-venture refinery in Chalmette, La. The work will have a slight impact on production but customer needs will be met.A process unit upset at Tesoro Corp's. oil refinery in Anacortes, Washington, resulted in visible flaring. Valero Energy Corp.'s key gasoline-producing unit at its oil refinery in Memphis, Tenn., was restarted over the weekend and is ramping towards planned rates. Operations at Citgo Petroleum Corp.'s oil refinery in Lemont, Ill.weren't affected by instrumentation issues on Sunday. Reportedly,A problem with an air compressor at ConocoPhillips's 247,000 barrel-a-day refinery in Sweeny, Texas.LyondellBasell's (LYB) oil refinery in Houston, Texas, reported a brief emissions event from a hydrodesulfirization unit related to a valve issue at a tank Saturday evening, according to a filing with state environmental regulators.The valve pressure was corrected.Chevron Corp. Saturday reported a spill of less than three gallons of benzene owing to equipment failure at its Pascagoula, Mississippi, refinery.

Base Oil Report: As per our conversation with buyers and refiners, Exxon Mobil, Conoco, Flint Hills, Calumet, Holly, Chevron , Valero USA Base Oil producers have hiked their Base Oil prices acorss the board by 20 - 35 Cents per gallon as Crude Oil prices touching USD 90 per barrel.