Weekly Americas Base Oil Price Report

Despite access to the additional barrels from Russia, global crude oil was in short supply as most Middle East cargoes were unable to reach their destinations around the world, driving crude oil futures to sky-high levels. Futures retreated slightly on Wednesday after the ⁠U.S. vice president said that the U.S. and Iran had made progress in their negotiations.

Diesel prices in particular have skyrocketed, with the New York Harbor ULSD crack spread versus Brent hovering at U.S.$60-$61 per barrel, from $22-$25/bbl before the conflict began. These conditions may force refiners to stream more feedstocks into fuel production versus base oils, leading to even more limited supplies.

Meanwhile, lubricant suppliers expressed concern about potential demand destruction given rising prices of gasoline and diesel, which may discourage summer driving and reduce motor oil consumption, and because of supply shortages, mainly precipitated by scarce API Group III base oil availability. Lubricant consumption levels had already been on a downward trend because of longer oil change intervals in newer car models, delayed fleet maintenance, vehicle electrification, and remote work — a remnant of COVID-19 measures — amid other factors. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has severely limited the supply of Group III base oils—the key ingredient for synthetic motor oils — with the short-term shortages driving up prices across the sector and potentially leading to repercussions for months to come.

Lubricant Increases

Several lubricant manufacturers have announced a third series of increases, following two previous rounds that were scheduled to be implemented between March 11 and March 20. The effective dates of the fresh increases range May 22-26. The markups have been driven by the mounting costs of base oils, additives, packaging and transportation over the last two months. Participants underscored that given current uncertainties and the fast pace of market changes — not to mention the escalating production costs — it remained very challenging to plan inventories and make pricing decisions.

Among the manufacturers that have announced various lubricant, grease and finished products increases were TotalEnergies USA, Highline Warren, Martin Lubricants, Omni Specialty Packaging, AOCUSA/Amalie, Calumet, CAM2, Castrol, Shell/SOPUS, PennStar, Chevron, ExxonMobil, Citgo, Phillips 66, Reliance Fluid Technologies, Consolidated Brands/ZXP Technologies and Valvoline. During the first two rounds of increases, suppliers had 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 third round called for increases of up to 26% for most products from one supplier, and markups of $3.00/gal-$3.70/gal for synthetic oils, $2.40/gal-$2.60/gal for other oils, and $0.25/lb-$0.29/lb for greases from the other suppliers.

While the original price hikes had met with buyer resistance, It was heard that the increases had gained some acceptance among consumers as supplies have tightened and there were concerns of more potential shortages if the war in the Middle East continued.

Some manufacturers have been forced to reduce output given difficulties in transfering the higher production costs down the supply chain, coupled with base oil shortages, particularly of Group III cuts. Several OEM dealers were understood to be bracing for difficulties in fulfilling genuine motor oil demand given the current conditions. Dealers and distributors of a number of major automotive manufacturers received notifications of temporary motor oil supply shortages “due to production and logistics constraints within the global petrochemical supply chain,” one letter read. Market sources warned that some engines may be put at risk if the shortages lead to the use of motor oils that are not the ones originally recommended by the manufacturer.

Paraffinic Price Increases

SK Enmove, Calumet, ExxonMobil and HF Sinclair communicated a fresh round of base oil increases during the week, driven by soaring crude oil prices and tightening global base oil supplies.

SK Enmove communicated posted price increases that went into effect on May 15. The company’s Group II+ 70N grade increased by 57 cents/gal; postings for its Group III 4 cSt and 6 cSt were lifted by 50 cents/gal and its Group III 8 cSt went up by $1.45/gal.

Calumet announced a price increase for its paraffinic oils, effective May 18. Calumet’s Group I SN600 grade increased by 80 cents/gal and its Group I bright stock by 70 cents/gal. The company’s Group II 60/75/80/100/150/325N cuts moved up 60 cents/gal.

According to reports, ExxonMobil communicated posted price increases for its Group I, Group II and Group II+ base oils, which will go into effect on May 20. The producer’s Group I SN100, SN150, SN330 SN600 and bright stock will be increased by 71 cents per gallon. The company’s Group II EHC65 grade and Group II+ EHC45 cut will be adjusted up by 48 cents/gal, “due to continued changing global and regional supply/demand balances,” the company explained in a letter to customers.

HF Sinclair announced posting increases on its base oils which will go into effect on May 22. The company’s Group I grades will be raised $1.00/gal, with the exception of bright stock, which will move up $1.10/gal. Petro-Canada’s Group II 70N will be up 50 cents/gal; the 100N/220N cuts will be raised 60 cents/gal and the 350N/650N base oils will go up by 40 cents/gal. The company’s Group II+ base oils will increase by 85 cents/gal and all the Group III grades will be up 95 cents/gal.

Group I and Group II

Spot and export availability of Group I and Group II grades was very limited in the U.S., with most producers focusing on meeting contract commitments. Bright stock was described as particularly tight and it is a difficult grade to replace. A small number of Group I and Group II cargoes were heard to have managed to be put together and sold to Europe, where prices have skyrocketed. Buying appetite was particularly robust in other regions that were feeling the Middle East supply crunch more strongly. Europe and Latin America continued to show interest in U.S. barrels. However, most producers were unable to offer substantial spot quantities, and a few have also started to build stocks ahead of the hurricane season along the U.S. Gulf Coast. Suppliers have had to place some customers on allocation and a few were considering supply cuts for the coming weeks.

There were expectations that Asian spot barrels would be entering the supply system again, following several weeks of their absence as Asian refiners had reduced operating rates due to the Middle East crude oil supply crunch, and because a South Korean Group II producer was completing a turnaround. The producer has restarted operations and was expected to offer more spot cargoes over the next few weeks. A South Korean Group II base oils cargo was rumored to have already been concluded into the U.S. — a sign that spot supplies from that origin were growing.

Recent and upcoming scheduled turnarounds in the U.S. may have exacerbated the tight supply situation further. Motiva was heard to have completed a two-week partial turnaround at its Port Arthur, Texas, Group II/III plant in April, which mainly affected its mid-viscosity base oils.

HF Sinclair’s Tulsa, Oklahoma, Group I unit also completed a maintenance program in April. Base oil production was not affected by an isolated refinery fire at the Tulsa refinery that was quickly extinguished last week, the company said.

Additionally, Chevron’s Pascagoula, Mississippi, Group II plant was expected to start a turnaround in June, and the producer was anticipated to be building inventories ahead of the outage.

Rerefined base oils have also tightened on the back of limited availability from most virgin base oil producers, and customers were heard to be taking all of the volumes that were available to them under contract.

In Brazil, the situation as seen over the last three months continued, with Group I and Group II supplies shrinking given close to no U.S. and Asian cargoes available for export, along with an outage at Brazilian producer Petrobras’ plant that started back in February which had resulted in snug Group I supplies, particularly of the heavy-viscosity base oils and bright stock. Base oil prices have surged because of the challenges importers face in finding spot supplies of most grades. Domestic prices were heard to have climbed by up to 50 percent in May, exerting pressure on finished products. At the same time, given a gradual increase in refinery runs in Asia, additional cargoes from that origin may be offered into South America over the next few weeks.

In Mexico, most blenders relied on contract shipments as U.S. spot export cargoes were difficult to locate. Spot price indications have moved up in line with increases in the U.S. and much of the rest of the world. Just like their U.S. counterparts, Mexican blenders were trying to pass steeper raw materials, transportation and packaging costs down the supply chain, but faced resistance from lubricant and finished products consumers on lackluster consumer spending.

Group III

Some panic buying has taken place in the Group III segment as flows from the Middle East Gulf remained extremely limited amid Iran’s chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz. Production shutdowns caused by damage to base oil facilities from Iranian drone attacks also contributed to the shortages. Buyers have had to accept the increasingly higher prices as supplies remained difficult to locate and there were few alternative sources of product.

Almost half of all U.S.’ Group III requirements are met by products coming from Qatar, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates. While some Middle East cargoes arrived in the U.S. over the last few weeks as shipments had been on the water when the war started, or were lifted from storage facilities in other locations, supplies were expected to be exhausted by the end of the month or early June if shipments did not resume soon, sources commented.

Meanwhile, there were hopes that Asian supplies would grow as refineries in that region were anticipated to increase run rates. Several producers had been forced to reduce output because most refineries in Asia were built to run on heavy sour Middle East crude slates, and crude from the Persian Gulf has been almost impossible to obtain due to the closure of the key waterway. Additionally, local governments required refiners to prioritize fuel production over that of other refined products to protect fuel supplies for the general population. Several countries have tapped into strategic emergency crude stocks to keep refineries running, or have imported crude oil from alternative sources such as Latin America, the U.S., Australia and Africa, and these cargoes were now reaching Asian ports.

There were expectations that additional Group III volumes would be shipped to the U.S. from South Korea. A key South Korean supplier was heard to be able to continue running well and produce base oils to fully meet contract commitments as it has diversified its crude sources over the last few years, with the refinery able to handle alternative crudes much better than other refineries.

A second South Korean producer was heard to be highly dependent on Middle East crude imports and was therefore only focusing on meeting term obligations, placing customers on strict allocations, sources said.

Domestic Group III producers were running plants at close to full rates to meet contract obligations, with expectations that those Group II producers who can also manufacture Group III base oils would increase production to cover some of the current supply gaps and take advantage of the elevated Group III prices.

Naphthenic Base Oils

Naphthenic base oil prices remained exposed to upward pressure due to steep crude oil prices and a tight supply and demand balance. While oil prices have shown some fluctuations, price levels were still considered high enough to support current or drive base oil values to steeper levels, which was the case for some producers. Recent plant turnarounds, steady domestic demand and brisk export business, particularly into Latin America, have led to a very snug market. These conditions have prompted suppliers Ergon, Process Oils/Cross Oil, Calumet and San Joaquin Refining to increase prices several times since the start of the Iran conflict on February 28, with producers understood to be monitoring the situation closely as changes occur very rapidly.

In terms of production, Calumet restarted its naphthenic base oil plant in Princeton, Louisiana, earlier this month, following a turnaround that began mid-April. The producer said that the turnaround had gone to plan, and the unit was running well, allowing the supplier to work on building back inventory levels.  

San Joaquin Refining completed a scheduled turnaround at its refinery in Bakersfield, California, in March, while Cross Oil completed a maintenance program at its plant in Smackover, Arkansas, also in March.

The light-viscosity grades showed the tightest conditions as demand from the transformer oil segment was robust, but consumption of the heavier grades has ticked up as the rubber and tire sector prepare inventories for the U.S. summer driving season, which traditionally starts next week on Memorial Day weekend. The heavy pale oils also experienced increased interest as they can be used as a substitute for some heavy paraffinic cuts, which remained scarce.

Middle East Base Oil Capacity Shutdowns

According to reports, Shell/Qatar Petroleum has halted production at one train of its Pearl GTL Group II/Group III facility in Qatar after sustaining damage during Iranian aerial attacks on March 19. The plant, which can produce 300,000 metric tons of Group II base oils and 1,072,000 tons of Group III base oils per year, was expected 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.

Abu Dhabi state oil giant ADNOC 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. The Ruwais complex houses a 600,000-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 later heard that the producer had trimmed supply levels.

Crude Oil
Crude oil futures steadied on May 20 as Trump appeared to delay further hostilities against Iran despite earlier threats, and his administration extended a waiver on sanctions for Russian crude exports.

• West Texas Intermediate July 2026 futures settled on the Nymex at $104.15 per barrel on May 19, up from $102.18/bbl for front-month futures on May 12.
• Brent July 2026 futures were trading on the ICE at $109.25/bbl on May 20, up from $107.67/bbl for front-month futures on May 13.
• Louisiana Light Sweet crude wholesale spot prices were hovering at $112.25/bbl on May 18. Spot prices had settled at $103.06/bbl on May 11, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Diesel
Low-sulfur diesel wholesale, May 18 (May 11), EIA
New York Harbor: $4.15/gal ($4.05/gal)
Gulf Coast: $3.92/gal ($3.96/gal)
Los Angeles: $4.28/gal ($4.29/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 May 20, 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