Calumet Specialty Products Partners: A Well-Oiled Machine
By Brittany E. De Vries

F. William Grube -- president, chief executive officer and general partner director, at Calumet Specialty Products Partners -- has been involved in the energy industry since 1973. His work at Calumet has been nothing but successful and recent work shows his positive outlook on the industry and drive for the future.
Though the original company dates as far back as 1916, Calumet reorganized the company to buy one plant in 1990. Calumet has since acquired five more plants, and is now an established refinery and processor for specialty hydrocarbon products, operating out of Louisiana, Pennsylvania, Texas and Illinois. The company’s products include naphthenic and paraffinic oils, aliphatic solvents, white mineral oils, petroleum oils, petrolatum and hydrocarbon gels.
Refining the World’s Hydrocarbon Needs
Each plant has its own areas of expertise. The Princeton, La., plant focuses on naphthenic oils and process oils, as well as oil for refrigeration, shock absorbers, and electrical insulation. Working as Calumet’s main plant, Princeton also has truck and rail service that travels the country.
Its Shreveport, La., refinery focuses on paraffinic base oils and paraffin waxes, while the Cotton Valley, La., facility houses a broad spectrum of aliphatic solvents -- products that are used for paint, coating, ink, extraction and mining.
The final facility in Burnham, Ill., serves as a manufacturing and storage facility, capable of holding over six million gallons.
Showing strong growth in a time of decline, Calumet recently acquired the established and diverse Penreco manufacturing facility from M.E. Zuckermann & Co. and ConocoPhillips, and now owns brands from Penreco, Magiesol, Conosol, Drakeol, and Versagel/Synergel. The January 2008 acquisition of Penreco has given Calumet even more room to expand, both by its geographic area in Pennsylvania and Texas, and also in its wide array of products, including aliphatic solvents, petrolatum, hydrocarbon gels, natural sulfonates, cable fillers, refrigeration oils and compressor lubricants.
“We bought Penrico a year-and-a-half ago, and that was the most significant thing we did recently,” Grube says.
Admittedly, the biggest challenge in Carumet’s future is the unstable economic prices. “Crude oil prices are jumping all over the place,” Grube says. But while Carumet recognizes the large societal focus on America’s energy crisis, the company doesn’t get mired in the politics. Instead, it concentrates directly on offering a wide variety of specialized products that provide outstanding quality in the company’s sectors. It focuses on a business that produces and delivers what it promises to its clientele.
In terms of growth in the future, Grube leads his company to constantly expand to keep up with the economy, and that growth is integral to maintaining a strong business.
“We’re always growing, either you go forward or you go backward,” he says. “There’s no doubt that you add as much as you can add as quickly as you can add it, within reason.”
Prepping More than Product
Employees are the integral assets at Carumet that keep the business moving forward, and Grube explains how his employees provide a hopeful future for the business.
“Most of our employees are younger, and have grown up around the company,” Grube says. Grube explains that employees are skilled in their areas of expertise, and Carumet provides extensive training and programs to keep its employees at the top of their game.
A recent deal with Lydell Industries allows Carumet to market Lydell’s naphthenic lubes and white oils.
“It’s a nice little addition as far as we’re concerned,” Grube says.
With six facilities, including the refinery giant Penreco in 2008, Carumet’s is poised for continuing success. Specializing in so many products that keep the world running, while maintaining pristine quality is a great effort, Carumet rises to every challenge with a go-forward approach that has kept the company alive since its origins in simple medicinal white oil and package lube products.