Yesterday, Jan. 12, Flint Hills Resources hiked its Group II base oils. FHR said that 70HC and 75HC rose 11 cents/gal, 100HC and 600HC added 25 cents/gal and 230HC climbed 20 cents/gal.

Chevron plans to boost its Group II oils on Thursday, Jan. 14. The 100 vis grade will move up by 25 cents/gal, 220 vis will increase 20 cents/gal and 600 vis will shoot up 35 cents/gal.

Also on Thursday, Jan. 14, ConocoPhillips plans to raise its Group II 70N and 80N paraffinic grades by 25 cents/gal. The company will up its 110N by 27 cents/gal, boost 225N by 20 cents/gal, and hike 600N by 30 cents/gal. ConocoPhillips also confirmed that Ultra-S Group II+ oils will each climb by 25 cents/gal and the Group III postings will each go up by 5 cents/gal. ConocoPhillips markets S-Oils Group III oils in North America.

Direct buyers said that ExxonMobil also jumped on the band wagon with plans to lift its Group I American Core grades on Jan. 14. According to these customers, ExxonMobil will boost its 100, 600 and bright stock by 25 cents/gal, while increasing 150 vis by 12 cents/gal and 330 vis by 20 cents/gal. The posting for EHC 45 (110 to 130 vis) Group II+ will go up 5 cents/gal, while ExxonMobil’s other EHC Group II+ posting is unchanged. Sources added that the major refiner no longer produces a Group I 275 vis grade as of the beginning of this year.

On Friday, Jan. 15, Calumet will hoist all its paraffinic posted prices. Group I 700 vis will move up 30 cents/gal and bright stock by 25 cents/gal. In the Group II category, 80 vis will ascend by 15 cents/gal, 100 and 150 vis grades go up by 25 cents/gal, while 325 vis will jump 20 cents/gal higher. The company said that it is no longer posting a price for its Group I 60 vis – this cut is used for internal specialty products.

All companies told their customers that increased postings were necessary due to rising feedstock costs as well as current supply/demand dynamics. Customer orders have shown steady improvement while supply availability has narrowed, suppliers added.

A week ago, bright stock values for domestic trade had been pegged in the $2.95 to $3.10 per gallon range FOB, depending on supply source and volumes. But with some posted price changes occurring this week, new quotes from sellers are heard to be well above the $3.15/gal mark, although this could not be verified as of today.

Sources also suspected that heavy neutrals and bright stock prices for domestic business are higher at well above the $3/gal range.

Activity in the export arena is picking up with potential buyers seeking large slugs of heavy neutrals. Quotes, so far, have been heard at slightly below domestic, although with availability increasingly tight, sellers offers going forward could become elevated, sources surmised.

Looking upstream, crude oil prices have jumped from $69 per barrel a month ago to almost $84/bbl in the past week on the heels of extremely cold weather that the United States has not seen in years. As a result of frigid weather, which blanketed much of the country over the past several weeks, demand for heating oil increased significantly, pulling crude prices to their recent highs.

At the close of the Tuesday, Jan. 12, NYMEX session, light sweet crude futures ended at $80.79 per barrel, a loss of 98 cents compared to the Jan. 5 settlement at $81.77/bbl.

Historic U.S. posted base oil prices and WTI and Brent crude spot prices are available for purchase in Excel format.