Similarly, HollyFrontier had lifted prices by 10 cents, 14 cents and 15 cents/gal, depending on the grade, on April 2.

Calumet had previously indicated that it would be moving its Group II prices up by 10 cents to 20 cents/gal, following the lead of Chevron, Motiva, Phillips 66 and Flint Hills, who had already implemented increases ranging from 5 cents to 30 cents/gal, depending on the supplier and the product. All of the increases became effective between March 5 and March 31, and varied according to each base oil cut as outlined in last weeks edition of Lube Report.

Within the Group II+ sector, Phillips 66 and SK increased postings by 20 cents/gal on March 26. ExxonMobil was heard to have lifted Group II+ posted prices by 14 cents/gal on April 1, according to market sources.

Finally, in the Group III segment, Phillips 66 upped prices by 15 cents/gal, with an implementation date of March 26, and SK raised numbers by 15 to 20 cents/gal, depending on the cut, on the same date.

Suppliers commented that the recent price increases had not had a significant impact on demand, which was described as healthy. Domestic inventories were said to be fairly balanced, with the heavy discounting seen on spot pricing in recent months said to have disappeared.

Requirements had already started to pick up before the hikes were announced, possibly because buyers foresaw the possibility that producers would be seeking adjustments, but also because activity in downstream applications has also improved.

Buying appetite for export material was heard to be somewhat subdued, although there appears to be interest for Group I heavy-viscosity cuts and bright stock from Mexico. Sources said that an SN500 parcel may have been concluded from the U.S. Gulf to Mexico for April shipment; the cargo was ostensibly finalized before the increases in the domestic market had been implemented.

Petroleos Mexicanos (PEMEX) base oils plant in Salamanca, Mexico, was heard to be running at close to full rates, and there were reports that the supplier had lowered pricing for April transactions, but this could not be confirmed with the producer.

Conditions were stable on the naphthenic base oil front, with suppliers reporting steady demand and tight supply for some grades such as transformer oil, given healthy buying interest both on the domestic and export markets.

Cross Oil was heard to have restarted its Smackover, Arkansas, naphthenic plant at the end of March, following the completion of some repairs and a maintenance program.

Upstream, West Texas Intermediate crude futures regained strength on speculation that gasoline supplies dropped for a seventh week in the U.S.

WTI settled on the CME/Nymex at $102.56 per barrel on April 8, up $2.82 from a settlement at $99.74/bbl on April 1.

Brent crude was trading around $107.67 per barrel on the CME, up $2.05 from $105.62/bbl a week ago.

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