The U.S. base oil market completed a dragged-out round of price hikes Monday, as Flint Hills Resources imposed markups ranging from 11 cents to 14 cents per gallon. On the naphthenic side of the market, volume leader Ergon Refining said its plant in Vicksburg, Miss., has resumed normal production levels.
Flint Hills was the last primary producer to join a round of paraffinic hikes that began June 5. It was the fourth movement for the market since the start of the year.
Ergons plant in Vicksburg had been operating at reduced levels for more than a month due to expiration of parts in a hydrotreater. While awaiting replacement parts, the refinery that contains the plant developed another equipment problem. The latter incident crimped crude throughput but did not further reduce base oil production.
The company stated yesterday that both problems have now been repaired and that the plant has returned to normal production levels. It added, however, that it has stopped taking on new business until it can rebuild inventories – a process expected to take 30 to 40 days.
The cost of crude oil on the New York Mercantile Exchange closed yesterday at $72.15 per barrel, according to Bloomberg. That was $2.85 higher than the price a week earlier.
Historic U.S. posted base oil prices and WTI and Brent crude spot prices are available for purchase in Excel format.