Chevron has announced that construction on its new Pascagoula base oil plant is now complete and that the company expects to reach full production capability by late July. Dubbed the Pascagoula Base Oil Project, or PBOP, the plant is projected to produce 25,000 barrels per day of API Group II base oils when fully operational, doubling Chevron's worldwide production.

S-OIL held a ceremony on May 26 in Jung-gu, Seoul for launching its premium lube oil brand, “S-OIL 7,” and unveiled a total of six 100% synthetic engine oil products. These six new product lines, tailored toward gasoline, diesel and LPG engines, are made of S-OIL-manufactured premium Group III base oil and PAO synthetic base oil.

Australia's advertising standards watchdog has condemned Valvoline's latest TV commercial for Valvoline SynPower Engine Oil which features Neanderthal looking men recklessly driving vehicles but then transforming into humans when they step out of the car. The Advertising Standards Board deemed the TV ad breaches the Advertiser Code of Ethics.

JX Nippon Oil and Energy Vietnam opened a lubricant blending plant on May 22 in northern Hai Phong City's Dinh Vu Industrial Zone. The US$40 million plant has the capacity to produce 40,000 tons per year of passenger car engine oil, diesel engine oil, gear oil, ATF and industrial oil under the ENEOS and several OEM brands.

Hydrodec Group plc, the cleantech industrial oil re-refining group, announced last Friday that it will file a Provisional Patent application to protect a novel and innovative method for hydrogenation refining of used oil and otherwise contaminated oil, to produce a high quality refined base oil product.

Richardson, Texas-based waste oil re-refining company Safety-Kleen, operating in Massachusetts has agreed to pay $100,000 for allegedly transporting waste oil from unregistered facilities and submitting inaccurate reports to the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP), Attorney General Martha Coakley announced last week.

• Calumet Increases Its Group I and II Base Oil Prices by 10-15 CPG
• Calumet Specialty Products Partners, L.P. Named To The 2014 FORTUNE 500 List
• Terex Completes Sale of Its Truck Business to Volvo Construction Equipment for $160 Million
• Par Petroleum, Parent Company of Hawaii Independent Energy, Acquires Mid Pac Petroleum
• The Government of Canada Taking Action to Reduce Industrial Air Emissions with Proposed Multi-Sector Air Pollutants Regulation