Weekly Americas Base Oil Price Report

SK Enmove raised its Group II+ and Group III posted prices by 35 cents per gallon on April 17.

Chevron communicated that effective April 21, the company’s posted price for its Group II 100R grade would increase by 35 cents/gal, and its Group II 220R and 600R grades by 30 cents/gal “to reflect current market conditions.”

HF Sinclair announced that the company would be increasing posted prices on April 24. HollyFrontier’s Group I grades will be increased by $1.10/gal across the board. Petro-Canada’s Group II 70N, 100N and 350N wil increase by $1.10/gal, while its 200N and 650N grades will be adjusted up by $1.80/gal. The company’s Group II+ 65 cut will increase by $1.50/gal and the Group II+ 100 cut by $1.20/gal, while all Group III base oils will go up by $2.50/gal.

Rerefiner Avista Oil increased prices for its Group II+ and Group III oils by 75 cents/gal as of April 19.

Last week, Calumet announced a posted price increase of 70 cents/gal for its Group I and 80 cents/gal for its Group II grades, effective April 15. This increase was reflected in last week’s Price Table. Since the beginning of the month, a majority of base oil producers have communicated posted price increases that went into effect between April 5 and April 14.

Suppliers were monitoring the situation in the Middle East closely as base oil prices continued to be exposed to upward pressure since crude oil and refined products from that region were still largely unable to be shipped out. Some facilities have suffered Iranian drone attacks and have had to shut down operations as well, while producers have turned off oil wells as they were running out of storage.

Crude oil futures surged by almost 8% on Monday as a U.S. Navy destroyer attacked and seized an Iranian-flagged ship that was trying to evade the U.S. blockade on Iranian ports over the weekend. Iran responded by keeping the Strait of Hormuz closed to vessel traffic. President Trump announced an extension of the ceasefire on Tuesday — just hours before the deadline — partially easing investors’ concerns, with futures retreating by close to 1% following the announcement.

Lubricant Increases
A number of lubricant and grease manufacturers have communicated a fresh round of price increases, following previous adjustments given the mounting costs of base oils, additives, packaging and transportation. The implementation dates have been set between March 11 and May 20, with some suppliers nominating one increase and some two increases since the start of the war in Iran. Participants underscored that given current uncertainties and the fast pace of market changes — not to mention the escalating production costs — it has been very challenging to plan inventories and make pricing decisions.

Among the manufacturers that have announced increases were Calumet, CAM2, Castrol, Shell/SOPUS, PennStar, Chevron, ExxonMobil, Citgo, Phillips 66, Martin Lubricants, AOCUSA/Amalie, Highline Warren, Reliance Fluid Technologies, TotalEnergies USA, Consolidated Brands/ZXP Technologies, Omni Specialty Packaging and Valvoline. Most suppliers announced lubricant and grease increases of up to 9% to 35%, depending on the product, with some lubricant increases ranging 48 cents per gallon to $5/gal, and $0.07-0.11/lb for greases. The higher end of the range applied to fully synthetic lubricants and it was also inclusive of previous increases.

Group I and Group II
Spot business has almost ground to a halt as a majority of U.S. base oil producers have withdrawn spot offers and focused on fulfilling contract commitments, although railcar volumes appeared to be available from a few sellers. Both suppliers and consumers were managing inventory levels very carefully as it was uncertain when the market would return to pre-war conditions. Producers have restricted sales volumes or have placed customers on allocation, and the very limited number of suppliers that have been able to offer spot volumes for export have increased prices significantly. The tight conditions were primarily affecting Group II cuts, but Group I supplies were also snug. Spot export prices for Group I and Group II grades were heard to have climbed by up to 70 cents/gal week-on-week, while prices typically move up only by a few cents per gallon under normal market circumstances.

Concerns about supplies during hurricane season have started to emerge, as both buyers and sellers begin to build extra stocks ahead of the severe weather season that runs between June and November, but the current market tightness may prove a challenge. Demand from the automotive and heavy-duty segments starts to pick up in the spring ahead of the summer driving season as well, which could draw down current inventories further.

While suppliers generally maintain inventories to cover requirements for 50 or 60 days, there was concern that these supplies would soon be exhausted if plants were not running at top rates and global supplies continued to dwindle. Some refiners were prioritizing fuel production and have trimmed base oil output, while a couple of producers were heard to have had to export base stocks to support internal operations in Asia and Europe, as crude shortages in those regions have led to curtailed refinery runs.

In Brazil, supplies were increasingly tighter and base oil prices have surged because importers have generally been unable to secure fresh spot cargoes from the U.S. and Asia, and existing stocks were being run down. Supplies of Group III grades have dwindled on the international trading scene as shipments from the Middle East and Asia have been curtailed. Domestic suppliers were striving to meet contract commitments, but had to restrict volumes to customers. An outage at Brazilian producer Petrobras’ plant has exacerbated the snug Group I supply conditions. The producer was heard to have suffered a setback affecting Group I heavy-viscosity base oils and bright stock output since mid-February. The domestic producer has also announced hefty increases of approximately 30 percent for domestic sales in April.

In Mexico, prices have moved up because of reduced supplies from the U.S. and Asia. Contract shipments continued to move from the U.S. to Mexico, but suppliers were being restrictive in terms of volumes and have placed customers on allocation. Participants were also watching freight rates as fuel increases were placing pressure on transportation costs. Economic uncertainties were dampening lubricant demand and this was making it difficult for blenders to attain price increases for lubricants and finished products.

Group III
The most dire conditions in terms of product availability have been observed within the Group III segment since Group III shipments out of the Middle East have been effectively cut off by Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Iranian missile and drone attacks have also damaged several refineries and base oil plants. One train at the Shell/Qatar Pearl GTL plant in Ras Laffan, Qatar, will be out of commission for at least one year following drone attacks, while the gas refinery that supplies its feedstocks has also been shut down. Drone attacks and supply disruptions at the Adnoc plant in Abu Dhabi and Bapco facilities in Bahrain have also resulted in large volumes being taken out of the market.

While another key region in terms of Group III production is Asia, producers there are facing crude oil supply shortages as most refineries run on Middle East crude, and volumes moving out of the Persian Gulf have plummeted. Refineries were heard to be running at reduced rates and prioritizing fuels output versus that of other refined products such as base oils.

Some governments in Asia have released strategic emergency oil supplies to make sure refineries continue to run and secure fuel supplies for the general population, while refiners were also seeking alternative sources of crude oil outside of the Middle East, although refining yields may not be the same as most facilities were built to run on Arab crude oil.

Shipments of Asian Group III grades continued to meet a majority of contract commitments, but there were concerns that existing inventories will be depleted soon and this will lead to product shortages, as Asian refiners have slashed run rates due to limited crude supplies and have increased fuels output whenever possible. Meanwhile, domestic Group III producers were trying to continue running plants at top rates to meet contract obligations, with a couple having to place customers on allocation. Spot offers have been largely withdrawn by a majority of suppliers, and U.S. Group III production is limited in any case compared to that in Asia and the Middle East.

Naphthenic Base Oils
On the naphthenic base oils side, producers have implemented a number of price increases to offset sky-high crude oil and feedstock prices, although oil values dipped last week on expectations that the war in Iran would end during the 10-day ceasefire. However, oil futures jumped again after no resolution to the conflict was achieved despite negotiations, and the Strait of Hormuz remained closed. A tighter supply and demand balance also provided additional support to the higher pale oil values.

Ergon announced a price increase of 70 cents/gal, effective April 17.

Process Oils communicated a 70 cents/gal increase, with an effective date of April 17 as well.

San Joaquin Refining increased all naphthenic and aromatic specialty oils by 70 cents/gal on April 6. This was the first announcement by the producer, who cited volatile market conditions as a driver for the increases.

Calumet increased all of the company’s naphthenic oils by 40 cents/gal, effective April 7. The producerhad alsopreviously announced increases that went into effect in March.

Recent and ongoing plant turnarounds and steady demand for the light grades from the transformer oil sector have led to the snug conditions, while consumption of the heavy grades showed a slight uptick from the rubber and tire segments ahead of the U.S. summer driving season, which traditionally starts on Memorial Day weekend in late May—although there were expectations that driving may be more limited this year due to the increases in the price of gasoline and diesel. A shortage of jet fuel at many locations in the world was also expected to dampen international travel.

Calumet started a turnaround at its naphthenic base oil plant in Princeton, Louisiana, last week and was anticipated to complete it in two weeks. The producer was expected to have built inventories ahead of the shutdown to cover requirements during the outage.

San Joaquin Refining completed a scheduled turnaround at its refinery in Bakersfield, California, in March. The turnaround and a delayed restart depleted the producer’s inventory, but the supplier was currently working on rebuilding stocks, while Cross Oil completed turnaround at its plant in Smackover, Arkansas, in March.

Middle East Base Oil Capacity Shutdowns
According to reports, Shell/Qatar Petroleum has halted production at its Pearl GTL Group II/Group III facility in Qatar after sustaining damage during Iranian aerial attacks on March 19. The unit, which can produce 300,000 metric tons of Group II base oils and 1,072,000 metric tons of Group III base oils per year, experienced a fire at one of its processing trains and production has been shut down, with sources expecting the plant to remain offline for an extended period, possibly one year or longer as the specially designed equipment at the plant may be difficult to repair and may need to be replaced, according to sources. Earlier Iranian attacks on Qatar Energy’s LNG refinery in Ras Laffan, which supplies feedstocks to the Pearl unit, caused damages that will put the facilities out of commission for several years, with the company expected to declare force majeure on LNG contracts for up to five years, Reuters reported.

Abu Dhabi state oil giant Adnoc has shut part of its Ruwais refinery complex in response to ‌a fire that broke out on March 10, following a drone strike. Sources indicated that while the Ruwais West refinery was shut down for inspection and safety reasons, other operations within the massive complex might be continuing at reduced capacity. According to sources, the Ruwais East unit was running and was expected to continue production, including that of base oils, but this could not be confirmed with the producer directly. The Ruwais complex houses a 600,000 metric-tons-per-year Group II and Group III plant. Adnoc has been able to ship product out through ports on the Red Sea, according to sources.

In Bahrain, fire erupted at Bapco’s refinery in Maameer on March 5 following an Iranian attack, forcing the refinery to declare force majeure on production. Bapco operates a 400,000 tons-per-year Group III base oil facility in Sitra, within the Bapco refinery complex. Bapco originally indicated that base oil production had been unaffected, but it was not clear whether the unit was currently producing base oils at full rates.

In Saudi Arabia, a drone struck the Samref oil refinery in Yanbu, while Saudi forces intercepted a ballistic missile targeting the Port of Yanbu — one of the few ports where tankers are still able to lift cargoes as it is located on the Red Sea.

Crude Oil
Crude oil futures edged lower on Wednesday after president Trump said he would extend a ceasefire with Iran until peace talks between the two countries could take place. However, it was not clear when the U.S. and Iran would hold talks.

• West Texas Intermediate June 2026 futures settled on the Nymex at $89.67 per barrel on April 21, down from $91.28/bbl for front-month futures on April 14.
• Brent June 2026 futures were trading on the ICE at $99.27/bbl on April 22, up from $95.21/bbl for front-month futures on April 15.
• Louisiana Light Sweet crude wholesale spot prices were hovering at $92.76/bbl on April 20. Spot prices had settled at $105.97/bbl on April 13, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Diesel
Low-sulfur diesel wholesale, April 20 (April 13), EIA
New York Harbor: $3.60 per gallon ($3.84/gal)
Gulf Coast: $3.46/gal ($3.73/gal)
Los Angeles: $3.65/gal ($4.30/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 April 22, 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