Reports that two producers had adjusted postings emerged this week. Interestingly, the price revisions took prices in opposite directions, with one involving an increase and the other a decrease. According to market sources, ExxonMobil increased the price of its Group II+ EHC 45 grade, while Motiva lowered the price of its Group II, Group II+ and Group III base oils. Despite these price moves, postings from other suppliers remained unchanged, with supply and demand mostly showing an ongoing imbalance, particularly for the heavy grades. Those suppliers whose inventories were slightly long continued to pursue export opportunities, but buying interest at many destinations has ebbed and there was competition with Asian supply sources as well.
Participants were also keeping an eye on crude oil as geopolitical and economic factors had a strong impact on values. Oil futures were trading at multi-month highs earlier in the week due to growing tensions between the United States and Iran, but slipped after the American Petroleum Institute estimated that U.S. crude oil inventories had risen by 11.4 million barrels in the week ending Feb. 20 – a much larger build than expected.
Tariff turmoil in the U.S. as the Supreme Court declared U.S. President Donald Trump’s round of tariffs unconstitutional lent uncertainty to trade discussions. The president promised to impose fresh tariffs under a different section of the Trade Act of 1974, raising the rate on all imports from a majority of countries to 15% from the original 10%. However, it appeared that the new levies went into effect at 10%, with the White House explaining that the increase was still being worked on.
Group I
The API Group I grades continued to be described as balanced to slightly long, with the heavy grades showing ample availability. The exception was bright stock, which was still in high demand and snug supply, supporting firm prices. Competitive prices of heavy-viscosity Group II grades also drove some blenders to secure Group II cuts whenever applications allowed substitution. Spot values of the Group I SN500 grade were reported to have slipped between 5 and 10 cents per gallon given the more than adequate supply levels.
Global oversupply of Group I and Group II base oils continued to curb export demand for U.S. barrels, with suppliers focusing on increasing sales to domestic customers instead. Asian suppliers were particularly eager to find a home for their Group II heavy viscosity grades and offered competitive pricing, which reduced arbitrage opportunities for U.S. sellers.
However, the spring lubricant and agricultural planting season are just around the corner and suppliers hoped to see an increase in domestic demand as blenders prepare inventories for the busier production cycle. Still, expectations were that consumption would not show a sharp uptick like in years past, but a more gradual climb as consumers will use up existing inventories and will likely be more conservative in terms of replenishment volumes.
While U.S. Group I products continue to be regularly shipped to Mexico, there have been some fresh transactions involving Group I base oils moving to West Coast South America, India and Africa. Brazilian buyers were still looking for U.S. cargoes, but buying interest has subsided somewhat because the local producer, Petrobras, has increased production, following an unexpected shutdown that reduced its ability to meet all of its domestic requirements since last October.
Group II
According to reports, ExxonMobil increased the price of its Group II+ EHC 45 grade by 25 cents per gallon on February 20, with the price revision reflected in the Price Table below. Sources commented that this price increase was not so much a reflection of market conditions for standard grade Group II/II+ products, but rather an indication of high demand for Group III 4 cSt base stock. ExxonMobil has obtained Dexos approval for its EHC 45 product in PCMO applications and it can be used in lieu of an approved Group III 4 cSt. Group III 4 cSt is still tight from most suppliers while demand is strong, with particularly healthy growth in Mexico as the quality of the country’s PCMO products improves, driving prices up.
Meanwhile, Motiva reportedly intends to lower the posted price of its Group II, Group II+ and Group III grades by 50 cents/gal on March 1. The company might be revising its prices to get postings aligned with actual market values, sources speculated. But participants also said that not all accounts will be impacted by the price revisions, since the producer uses many different price formulas for contracts – some include postings and some do not. According to sources, there might be a drive by producers to return to the traditional practice of using posted prices as primary indices in price formulations this year.
Group II light grades were generally less readily available than the heavier grades, with spot prices for the latter inching down by 4 to 5 cents/gal during the week given abundant supplies. The 100N cut remained on the snug side, supporting prices at current levels.
Rerefined base oils have made gains in terms of both the domestic market share, as well as in exports to Mexico – although rerefined oil use in the neighboring country is not as widespread. Sources said that rerefined oils were offered at significant discounts compared to virgin base oils because they were in ample supply. However, spot supplies may see a slight tightening as a rerefiner has scheduled a turnaround in the first quarter and was expected to limit spot supplies to build inventories. A second rerefiner plans to embark on a brief four-day shutdown in late Q1, but this was not expected to affect the supplier’s shipping schedule.
Group III
Spot prices for the Group III 4 centiStoke cut have firmed given healthy demand against strained supplies of this grade compared to the 6 cSt and 8 cSt cuts. Spot prices of the 4 cSt cut were heard to have inched up by a few cents per gallon week on week. Sources reported that there continued to be attractive offers for products with partial approvals.
No supply disruptions were mentioned for imports of Group III base oils from Canada, Asia and the Middle East, which make up the majority of Group III products used in the U.S., but there might be a temporary tightening of global Group III supplies due to recent turnarounds in various regions and production disruptions at the Repsol refinery in Cartagena, Spain, following a fire on Jan. 26. The Cartagena complex includes a 135,000-ton Group I unit and the 630,000-ton Group II and III ILBOC unit operated through a joint venture with South Korea’s SK Enmove. While the fire did not cause extensive damage, the company said that feedstock supply and base oil operations were partially affected; however, the producer expected to be able to meet term commitments and continue deliveries as scheduled, though spot availability was expected to be more limited.
Domestic producers have started to produce more Group III grades in the U.S., but they are not widely available commercially since most of the output is currently used for internal lubricant operations.
Naphthenics
Prices for naphthenic oils remained stable, with some support coming from the crude oil side as values had moved up on growing U.S.-Iran tensions. A tightening supply and demand scenario for the light pale oils, coupled with three plant turnarounds and efforts by the producers to build inventories to ensure all contract commitments were met during the outages offered additional price support.
San Joaquin Refining was expected to complete a three-week scheduled turnaround at its refinery in Bakersfield, California, on Feb. 23, but the restart may be delayed by a couple of days. The producer planned to continue meeting customers’ requirements during the outage, and was expected to work on fulfilling a backlog of orders for the pale 40, 60 and 100 grades.
Cross Oil has scheduled a turnaround at its plant in Smackover, Arkansas, that began on Feb. 20. The program will last approximately 23 to 25 days, and the supplier was expected to have built inventories to fulfill orders during the shutdown.
Calumet will also likely start to build inventories over the next few weeks as the producer plans to have a turnaround at its naphthenic plant in Princeton, Louisiana, in the first half of April.
Crude Oil
Crude oil futures fell from a seven-month high on profit-taking ahead of the key EIA crude inventory report and after a massive build reported by the API sparked bearish sentiment. However, geopolitical tensions between the U.S. and Iran kept a firm risk premium under crude oil despite growing inventories in the U.S.
- West Texas Intermediate April 2026 futures settled on the Nymex at $65.63 per barrel on Feb. 24, up from $62.33/bbl for front-month futures on Feb. 17.
- Brent futures for April 2026 delivery were trading on the ICE at $70.71/bbl on Feb. 25, up from $67.59/bbl for front-month futures on Feb. 18.
- Louisiana Light Sweet crude wholesale spot prices were hovering at $69.09/bbl on Feb. 24. Spot prices had settled at $64.55/bbl on Feb. 13, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. (There was no trading on Feb. 16 due to the Presidents’ Day holiday).
Diesel
Low-sulfur diesel wholesale, Feb. 24 (Feb. 13), EIA
New York Harbor: $2.78 per gallon ($2.47/gal)
Gulf Coast: $2.61/gal ($2.24/gal)
Los Angeles: $2.67/gal ($2.35/gal)
Gabriela Wheeler can be reached directly at gabriela@LubesnGreases.com
LNG Publishing Co. Inc./Lubes’n’Greases shall not be liable for commercial decisions based on the contents of this report.
Posted Paraffinic Base Oil Prices Feb. 25, 2026
(Prices are FOB basis, in U.S. dollars per gallon and U.S. dollars per metric ton).
Archived base oil price reports can be found through this link: https://www.lubesngreases.com/category/base-stocks/other/base-oil-pricing-report/
Historic and current base oil pricing data are available for purchase in Excel format.
*ExxonMobil prices obtained indirectly.
**Rerefiner
