Fuels & Lubes International 1996 – Issue #12

BP opens regional technology centre
SINGAPORE—As part of its long-term strategy to become Asia’s market leader in the motorcycle engine oil market, BP officially opened its US$20 million regional technology center this month.

SAE to finalize “GF-3 Need” report in 1st Qtr.
ORLANDO, Florida—The next category of passenger car engine oils is in limbo, at least for the next few months.

Excerpt from speech by BP Oil South & East Asia Chief Struan Robertson
BP chose Singapore as the site for this regional facility for several reasons; namely, good geographical location with excellent infrastructure, availability of high quality staff and of course, very importantly, the strong encouragement of R&D activity by the Singapore Government.

ASTM Report
ASTM committee D-2 gave the go-signal for the development of a provisional standard for biodiesel.

Microbial contamination in fuels being addressed by ASTM task group:
Since the turn of the century, more than 10,000 technical papers addressing fuel microbiology have been published. The annual cost of chronic, uncontrolled microbial contamination of fuels and fuel systems in the U.S. alone is estimated at $400 million.

Boeing issues service letter to address red dye in jet fuels:
Since late 1993 when the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) began requiring that diesel fuel with sulfur content above 0.05 percent be dyed red, there has been a continuing series of incidents in which small concentrations of red dye are occurring in jet fuels. Contamination is probably taking place in pipelines.

Special Report
Fuel quality standards for the year 2000 proposed by the European Commission:

In 1992 the European Commission—the European Union’s executive arm—submitted a legislative proposal on attainment of improved air quality to the Parliament and Council, composed of representatives of memberstates.

Lube Tech Report
Developing a super high performance diesel engine oil suited to Indian driving conditions:
Indian Oil Corporation, in response to user demands, has developed a super high-performance diesel engine oil suitable for use over drain intervals of 40,000 to 45,000 km in Indian conditions. S.K. Mazumder, deputy manager,reported on the work in the development of this oil at the SAE Fuels and Lubricants Meeting in San Antonio, Texas, in October.

High performance lube base stocks:
Ever increasing performance requirements by the automotive industry are forcing lubricant manufacturers to seeks new means to upgrade their products. Better oxidative stability, improved viscosity and lower volatility, properties which are anticipated to be required in ILSAC GF-3, probably can not be achieved cost effectively solely using a combination of conventional base stocks and higher additive treat rates and/or optimized additive components.

Fuel Tech Report
Establishing equivalence between Ford and BMW intake valve deposit tests:
San Antonio, Texas—Intake valve deposit formation performance has been measured up to now using ASTM D 5500, a 10,000 mile road test using a 1985 model BMW 318i.

New additives solve U.S. Air Force’s thermal stability problems with JP-8 fuel:
High-performance jets use fuel to cool engines and airframe components. However, the fuel’s temperature increases as it absorbs heat from other components. This results in thermal degradation leading to formation of insoluble materials (gums, varnishes, coke) which foul system components, potentially affecting both efficiency and safety of operations.

Asia-Pacific Regional News
Royal Dutch/Shell has opened offices in Xi’an in Shaanxi Province, Qingdao in Shandong Province and Dalian in Liaoning Province to establish closer ties with its Chinese customers.

Mobil Oil Hongkong Ltd. said that it has received ISO 14000 certification, a standard for environmental management.

Pakistan state oil company Perac’s plans for a new oil refinery to process domestically produced crude oil have been stalled indefinitely by its inability to get government approval.

Petroleum Authority of Thailand (PTT) said it will invest about 120 billion baht (US$4.7 billion) over the next five years in its power and petrochemical businesses.

Nissan Motor Co. has decided to pull out of a joint venture to manufacture engines with Nanjing Auto Works of China.

Ford Motor Co. is poised to jump into the fray to build an “Asian car.”

The Thai government agreed to delay the deadline for doubling petroleum product reserves to 1999 from the original date of 1997.

Vietnam announced that it had increased prices for petroleum products, including gasoline, by between five and 12 percent.

Philippine petroleum product consumption for the first nine months of 1996 rose five percent to 98,897 million barrels from 94,306 million barrels for the same period last year.

The Philippine government will forgo more than 20 billion pesos (US$760 million) in revenues next year due to the recent restructuring of tariffs on petroleum products, according to the Department of Finance.

Indian Oil Corp. is discussing plans to build an export refinery with Malaysia’s Petroliam Nasional (Petronas) on India’s east coast.

Formosa Petrochemical Corporation is seeking to import 1.5 million tons per year of light naphtha by early 1998 for its new cracker.

Thailand will build a “GM University” to train specialist technicians to staff General Motors’ planned US$750 million plant.

Pertamina signed a memorandum of understanding to cooperate in the upstream and downstream oil sectors in Myanmar (formerly Burma).

The Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) plans to accelerate deregulation of Japan’s oil industry.

Seibu Oil Co. Ltd. has completed construction of a 30,000 bpd gas oil desulfurizer at its Yamaguchi refinery in southern Japan.

Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding Co. Ltd. said it had agreed with Brown & Root Inc. to cooperate in building petroleum and chemical plants in Asia-Pacific.

Chiyoda Corp. has invested one billion yen (US$8.8 million) to build a plant that will produce annually 2.7 million liters of fuel oil from 6,000 tons of waste plastics.

McDonald’s Co. (Japan) Ltd., a unit of McDonald’s Corp., will open five to six outlets at gasoline stations operated by Nippon Oil Co. Ltd. next year.

Idemitsu Kosan Co. Ltd. announced a joint venture with Taiwanese lubricants maker Kuo Hong Co. Ltd. to produce and market automotive and industrial lubricants in China next year.

Nippon Oil announced that all of its industrial lubricants and commodity oils such as cutting oils, have cleared all U.S. and European safety and environmental standards.

The Japan Petrochemical Industry Association projects that 1996 production of ethylene will reach a new high for the second year in a row, exceeding 7 million tons for the first time.

Nippon Oil Co. Ltd. said it will start construction of a 10,000 barrel per day benzene extraction unit at its Negishi refinery in Yokohama.

Lanzhou Chemical is seeking approval from China’s State Planning Commission to build a 600,000 ton per year ethylene cracker.

Australia’s New South Wales government is cracking down on the sale of blended diesel fuel at service stations.

After a decade of losing money, France’s largest car-maker, Peugeot Citroen, plans to pull out of its joint venture assembly plant in Guanzhou, China.

Sinopec looks to the 21st century as a period of greater reforms and increased cooperation with international firms.

Jinzhou Jinex Lubricant Additives, the joint venture between Exxon Chemical and Sinopec Jinzhou Petrochemical , opened its first plant in Jinzhou, China.