Saudi Aramco last Thursday announced its intention to directly enter the base oil business. The firm has been in the base oil business for many years through its JVs which produce and market base oils independently. Saudi Aramco also announced the launch of its three B-to-B base oils brands, aramcoDURA, aramcoPRIMA and aramcoULTRA.

ExxonMobil announced last Thursday it will expand its Singapore refinery to support the increase in production of the company’s EHC™ Group II base stocks. Construction is expected to begin during the second quarter of 2017 with completion anticipated in 2019.

Enterprise Products Partners announced plans to construct a new isobutane dehydrogenation unit in Mont Belvieu, Texas that will have the capability to produce 425,000 tons per year of isobutylene. The project is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2019.

Castrol last Tuesday announced the creation of a joint venture with UK-based Romax Technology’s InSight business. This deal will combine Castrol’s global reach and knowledge of wind turbine lubrication with Romax InSight’s expertise in predictive maintenance, software and data analytics for wind turbines.

Clariant last Thursday announced full year 2016 sales of CHF 5.847 (USD 5.846) billion, up 2 percent, compared to CHF 5.807 billion in 2015. Full year net income grew 16% to CHF 263 million. In the fourth quarter of 2016, sales grew by 3% in local currency to CHF 1.548 billion.

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