Motiva and Flint Hills Resources turned a few heads this week when they refrained again from joining the latest round of base oil price hikes. Buyers also breathed a sigh of relief when Motivas Port Arthur, Texas, plant completed an uneventful maintenance turnaround on one of its production trains.
Seven principal U.S. suppliers of paraffinic base oils have joined the latest round of markups, which began at the start of this month, but three have not: Motiva, Flint Hills and SK. The latter tends to take its time in announcing changes, but some observers expressed mild surprise that Motiva and Flint Hills have not moved yet. Motiva especially draws attention because of its position as the dominant supplier of Group II oils.
Some buyers said that Motiva may yet join the price movement – and spur Flint Hills and SK to do the same. Guesses about the reason for its lack of action ranged from speculation about decision-makers traveling, to recent reductions in crude oil and fuels prices.
No parsing was needed in assessing the completion of the Port Arthur turnaround. The industry has been through enough supply disruptions the past year that accident-free shutdowns and startups are not taken for granted.
The train that underwent the turnaround is one of three at Port Arthur and has capacity to make 10,000 barrels per day. Work crews shut it down in mid-July and restarted it without incident last week.
Posted paraffinic base oil prices are unchanged from last week. The cost of crude oil on the New York Mercantile Exchange closed yesterday at $72.93 per barrel, according to Bloomberg. That was1 cent lower 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.