Weekly Americas Base Oil Price Report

The U.S.-Iran agreement, which establishes a framework for a 60-day cessation of hostilities, a reopening of the strait to vessel traffic, and a waiver of sanctions on Iranian oil sales, will not be official until it is signed in Switzerland on June 19. There appeared to be several terms that Washington D.C. and Tehran have yet to agree on, especially in regards to Iran’s uranium enrichment program and nuclear ambitions. Additionally, the leaders of the G7 countries meeting in Evian, France, this week have agreed to cooperate in the resumption of safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz.

Crude oil futures had been hovering above $90 per barrel before the weekend, but after news about the deal emerged, they suffered a precipitous fall to the low $80s/bbl. Analysts said that a lack of public details on what has been agreed was likely to keep uncertainty and volatility in oil markets over the next few days.

Shipowners and operators also maintained a cautious attitude towards the reopening of the strait, even as they began to reposition vessels with the aim to jump start loadings at Persian Gulf ports. Three Iranian tankers ostensibly exited the U.S. blockade of Hormuz for the first time in months as shipowners kept an incredulous eye on what was happening in the strait. However, experts warned that a resumption of shipping and crude flows from the Middle East would likely take weeks to regain pre-war levels as many ships were still trapped in the Persian Gulf, and oil wells and refineries in the region have been shut down.

Group I and Group II
Excel Paralubes was reported to have increased its posted prices on June 15, with its Group II 70N and 100N grades moving up by 50 cents per gallon and its Group II 220N and 650N increasing by 46 cents/gal.

Calumet communicated an 80 cents/gal posted price increase for its Group I base oils and a 50 cents/gal increase for its Group II base oils, with an effective date of June 17.

Rerefiner Avista Oil informed customers of a 45-cents/gal increase on its Group II+ grade and 90 cents/gal on its Group III cut, effective June 12.

Last week, HF Sinclair announced that Petro-Canada’s Group II and Group II+ base oils would be moving up by 75 cents/gal and its Group III grades by $1.25/gal, and these increases will be reflected in the Price Table below this week as they go into effect on June 19.

These initiatives come on the heels of similar moves by Chevron, HollyFrontier and SK Enmove. The increases were driven by supply constraints, robust demand and steep feedstock prices. Base oil producers also needed to maintain certain margins to justify base stock production versus that of competing fuels.

Despite the emergence of recent increases, the pace of announcements has abated somewhat compared to earlier because prices have reached levels that were difficult for buyers to absorb, and producers needed to avoid potential moves that would lead to demand destruction. Some blenders have already opted for reducing purchases and trimming operating rates given credit limitations and cash flow constraints, coupled with the uncertainty about whether they would be able to offset the higher production costs through lubricant price increases. The larger blenders have the ability to absorb the rsing production costs without having to achieve immediate increases in downstream segments, and many have integrated operations with their own base oil facilities.

Spot supplies seem to be very limited, with only a few cargoes heard to have been offered to Europe and Latin America, while U.S. suppliers maintained strict sales controls and allocations. Producers and rerefiners said that they continued to receive inquiries from buyers looking for additional barrels, but they were unable to offer many extra volumes because they were trying to build emergency inventories for the hurricane season, which started this month. Tropical Storm Arthur, the first cyclone of the season, was already forming in the U.S. Gulf early this week and was expected to impact parts of Florida, bringing heavy rain and the potential for life-threatening flooding to Texas and Louisiana, where several base oil plants are located.

Most heavy grades, both in the Group I and Group II categories, were snug, with Group I bright stock and SN500-600 showing the tightest conditions. Group II light-viscosity cuts were generally limited as well, particularly as some Group III consumers were utilizing Group II light grades to replace Group III cuts that were more difficult to source.

There have been reports of Asian suppliers offering cargoes to the U.S. and Latin America as supplies have recovered in that region, while the astronomical climb in prices had resulted in some demand destruction, allowing for more product to remain available for export. Offers for Group II shipments from India have also emerged, which was rather unusual but indicated that supplies in Asia were lengthening and prices were more attractive in other regions such as the U.S. A cargo of 10,000-15,000 tons of base oils was mentioned for loading in Haldia, India, to the U.S. Gulf between June 10 and 20.

Despite the possibility of importing Asian material, recent and ongoing scheduled turnarounds may exacerbate the tight supply situation in the U.S. Chevron’s Pascagoula, Mississippi, Group II plant was expected to have started a turnaround in early June and the producer was anticipated to have built inventories ahead of the outage, restricting its spot availability even further. No confirmation was available from Chevron as the producer does not comment on its plant operations.

Rerefined base oils were also tight given strong demand from contract customers and from buyers who were unable to receive extra supplies from their regular suppliers, although rerefiners have mentioned very limited spot availability.

There has been demand for Group I grades in Brazil as a production outage at Brazilian producer Petrobras’ plant back in February has resulted in snug Group I supplies, particularly of the heavy-viscosity base oils and bright stock. A planned turnaround that will start in mid-June may compound the ongoing supply tightness. Supplies from Asia have been offered to Brazilian buyers as well, particularly from South Korea, but consumers were also seeking U.S. supplies. A 9,000-ton cargo was heard concluded for shipment from Port Arthur, Texas, to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in late May.

In Mexico, demand for the heavy-vis grades and bright stock grades was ongoing since these cuts have been quite tight in the U.S. and consumers appeared willing to pay higher values in line with export markets in Latin America and Europe. Additional offers were anticipated to emerge from Asia as the tight supply situation there has started to ease.

Group III
As mentioned the previous week, HF Sinclair nominated posted price increases of 75 cents/gal for Petro-Canada’s Group II+ cuts and $1.25/gal for its Group III base oils, with an effective date of June 19. The increases will be reflected in the Price Table below this week as it is when the adjustments go into effect.

Despite the ceasefire agreement between the U.S. and Iran that was signed over the weekend, there were expectations that global Group III supplies would remain extremely tight for some time. Most Group III base oils produced in Qatar, Bahrain and Abu Dhabi have seen production disruptions due to Iranian drone attacks on several refineries, with repairs being carried out, and suppliers of base oils manufactured in Qatar and Bahrain remaining under force majeure.

Base oil supplies from the Middle East had been able to be shipped from storage in other locations, but these stocks appeared to be close to depleted, even after the implementation of strict allocations. The supplier in Abu Dhabi continued to ship small cargoes out of the Middle East through ports on the Red Sea, with an expected arrival of the shipments in July or August, but many requirements were expected to go unfulfilled.

Group III supplies will not start to move to other regions until the Strait of Hormuz is reopened and all the vessels that are trapped in the Persian Gulf can finally leave for their destinations, with new vessels likely to take some time to reach the Middle East. Furthermore, with vessel traffic in the Panama Canal having increased recently, some shipments from Asia may suffer delays as well.

While Group III supplies from Asia and Canada are able to meet a large part of Group III base oil consumption in the U.S., they are not deemed sufficient to bridge the gap left by the absence of Middle East base oils, which fulfill almost 43% of U.S. demand. Asian plants have increased output rates since refiners have been able to import crude from sources outside the Middle East, although key South Korean Group III producer had been able to continue running its plant at high rates all along 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.

U.S. Group III producers were running plants at high rates, but most of their output is used for internal lubricant production or has been allocated for contract business. Chevron started a turnaround at its Pascagoula, Mississippi, Group II/Group III plant in June, and the producer was anticipated to have built inventories ahead of the outage. No further details were forthcoming from the producer.

Naphthenic Base Oils
Prices in the naphthenic segment were reported as stable, with producers keeping an eye on the latest geopolitical developments given that crude oil prices have decreased from sky-high levels reached over the last three months. Producers have implemented several general increases since the beginning of the war in Iran in response to the steep crude oil prices, but the hikes have been more moderate than for paraffinic oils because of the more direct impact of Brent futures on naphthenic refining operations.

Most refiners were heard to be running base oil plants at full rates due to steady demand and improving margins. Demand for the heavy grades from the rubber and tire segments has improved as the summer travel season got officially underway in late May, as well as from buyers who resorted to replacing paraffinic heavy grades with naphthenic grades due to supply shortages and soaring prices. The lighter grades continued to see strong consumption from the transformer oil segment and have also been exported to markets which offered attractive margins such as Europe.

Lubricant Increases
Lubricant manufacturers were still trying to implement recently announced increases. Some have been successful at achieving the full amounts given concerns of potential shortages given the recent supply disruptions. Some manufacturers have faced resistance, particularly as buyers were dealing with cash flow constraints and credit limitations against a backdrop of demand uncertainties in downstream markets.

Lubricant manufacturers have announced three round of increases, with effective dates peppered between April and the end of May. 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 rest of the suppliers.

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. Even if the Strait of Hormuz were reopened tomorrow, the repercussions of the current supply disruptions were expected to be felt until next year. Some small blenders were considering closing their doors because of financial difficulties and credit limitations to purchase raw materials to keep operations running.

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 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 fell by more than 5% for a second day on Wednesday following additional details about the ceasefire agreement between the U.S. and Iran that was expected to be signed on June 19.

• West Texas Intermediate July 2026 futures settled on the Nymex at $76.05 per barrel on June 16, down from $88.20/bbl for front-month futures on June 9.
• Brent August 2026 futures were trading on the ICE at $79.63/bbl on June 17, down from $91.56/bbl for front-month futures on June 10.
• Louisiana Light Sweet crude wholesale spot prices were hovering at $81.32/bbl on June 16. Spot prices had settled at $97.62/bbl on June 8, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Diesel
Low-sulfur diesel wholesale, June 16 (June 8), EIA
New York Harbor: $3.21 per gallon ($3.59/gal)
Gulf Coast: $3.15/gal ($3.53/gal)
Los Angeles: $3.25/gal ($3.71/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 June 17, 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