San Joaquin has just completed a turnaround at its Bakersfield, Calif., refinery and was heard to be running its 8,100 barrels per day base oils plant at full rates.

A snug supply/demand balance and firm feedstock costs were supporting the pale oil increases, sources said.

A majority of naphthenic oil suppliers agreed that demand in May had been healthy and availability of most grades had tightened, and conditions were expected to remain similar over the next few weeks.

“June is shaping up to be a strong month,” a producer noted, while another said that it was difficult to keep up with orders.

On the paraffinic front, no fresh price movements emerged following Chevron’s initiative that resulted in a price increase of 20 cents/gal for its API Group II grades as of May 25.

Upstream, crude oil futures rose on Tuesday on expectations that higher U.S. fuel consumption during the peak driving season would foster crude oil demand. Positive U.S. consumer spending data also propped up oil prices, despite concerns that a robust economy could encourage the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates soon.

West Texas Intermediate futures settled on the CME/Nymex at $49.10 per barrel on May 31, up 48 cents per bbl from the May 24 settlement of $48.62 per bbl.

Light Louisiana Sweet wholesale spot prices closed at $51.06 per bbl on May 27, compared to $50.20 per bbl. on May 23, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. There was no trading on May 30 due to the Memorial Day holiday.

Brent was trading at $49.69 per bbl on the CME on May 31, up $1.08 per bbl from $48.61 per bbl a week earlier.

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