Maxum Petroleum, Inc. today announced the acquisition of Petroleum Products, Inc. and two affiliated companies, Petroleum Transport, Inc., and Petroleum Fueling, Inc., (collectively, "Petroleum Products"). Headquartered in Charleston, West Virginia, Petroleum Products was founded in 1938 and is the leading supplier of fuels, lubricants, and relatedvalue-added services to industrial and coal mining operations in the Central Appalachia region with sales of over $320 million. Petroleum Products operates nine warehouse and bulk plant facilities, and services customers in West Virginia, eastern Kentucky, south central Ohio, and southwestern Virginia.

Maxum Petroleum (previously named Global Petroleum, Inc.) was formed in 2006 by its parent, SPI Petroleum LLC, to continue the consolidation of the fragmented commercial fuel and lubricant distribution industry, as begun by SPI Petroleum in 2004. Maxum Petroleum is the leading independent petroleum marketer in the country, providing a comprehensive fuel and lubricant offering to commercial and industrial industries nationally. Petroleum Products will operate as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Maxum Petroleum, and will continue to market and operate under the Petroleum Products brands. The entire management team of Petroleum Products, including its President and previous owner, Pat Graney, will continue in their current roles.

Castrol Industrial North America Inc. ("Castrol Industrial") announced that they are leveraging their global market reach to bring customers the "best selection of products from their extensive global product range." As such, they are establishing a Global Core Range of industrial lubricants and fluids that will be available in all key markets across the globe over the next 12-18 months.

Castrol believes that this step can improve its operational capabilities and ensure back-up supply options that will better serve its customers.

• Standardized products across regions
• Streamline and expert product technologies
• More innovative and compliant products that meet stringent HSE regulations from all around the globe
• Additional machinery and tool manufacturers product approvals
• Deeper and broader application expertise from an enlarged global database of similiar applications
• Enhance security of supply from global sourcing and manufacturing reach

The Castrol Global Core Range (GCR) of products is a subset of all Castrol Industrial products currently available in world. The rollout of global products new to the Americas region has already begun and will continue over the next months until complete.

According to Castrol Industrial, the GCR products will have "singular formulations and will be consistent in performance and availability across the globe in all markets."

American Refining Group (ARG) announced the addition of Partial Synthetic SAE 0W-30 Racing Oil to its line of Brad Penn, Penn Grade, "The Green Oil" Racing Oils.

According to ARG, this new partial synthetic is a "high performance, low viscosity racing oil, tailored to maximize horsepower in racing engine." They add that "it contains a strong detergent and dispersant and ZDDP antiwear additive package to help protect critical engine parts from deposits and wear in highly stressed racing engines." Moreover, the say the synthetic component of the racing engine oil enhances protection afforded at high and low temperature extremes.

As readers of Jobbers World may recall, in a market research study by Petroleum Trends International, ARG was ranked as one of the leading major oil companies in the US market when nearly 200 lubricant distributors were surveyed on 48 key business issues considered important to them when doing business with the majors. ARG ranked particularly high in such areas as operational efficiency, pricing policies, credit issues/resolution, lead time, completeness of orders, frequency of sales calls, and return policy. In addition, lubricant distributors say ARG's management team is very accessible and responsive and they really seam to appreciate their business.

Petroleum Trends is now conducting interviews for the second edition of its study, Lubricant Supplier- Distributor Relations, 2007. This study, which is due to be released at the end of 2007, is designed specifically to assist major oil companies to better serve their valued channel partners.

Cortec Corporations introduces an All Purpose lubricant to its line of biodegradeable products derived from soybeans.

According to Cortec, this bio-based formula can directly replace traditional petroleum based lubricants. They say it "combines Cortec's unique Vapor phase Corrosion Inhibitor (VpCI) technology and a superior lubricating package designed with the latest in friction modifiers and extreme pressure additives. Metal seeking molecules provide multi-metal corrosion protection, sealing against moisture and air. BioLube penetrates rapidly, displaces moisture, provides complete corrosion protection for up to a year, and contains no CFCs, which deplete the ozone, making BioLube a more environmentally responsible choice.

When compared to conventional lubricating products, BioLube offers superior corrosion protection, is biodegradable, and safe to use. It is recommended for use in a wide variety of applications including mold release, a general-purpose lubricant, and preservative oil for corrosion prevention. In addition, the nature of the soybean oil used to formulate BioLube gives it excellent penetrating properties, useful in loosening frozen nuts and bolts. BioLube can be used for industrial, shop, or home use; it can be used indoors or outdoors and will not harm most plastics.