Also received this today in the Lube Report e-newsletter put out by Lubes-n-Greases magazine:
U.S. Lube Prices Climbing Again
By Tim Sullivan
Two more U.S. oil majors announced price hikes for finished lubricants during the past week. Chevron and ConocoPhillips plan to impose markups ranging from 3 percent to 10 percent and 5 percent to 9 percent, respectively, joining a round of increases triggered by ExxonMobils announcement two weeks ago.
In an Aug. 30 letter obtained by Lube Report, Chevron told distributors it will raise prices for lubricating oils by an average of 6 percent to 10 percent and those on gear lubes and greases by an average of 3 percent to 5 percent. All of the changes are scheduled to take effect Oct. 2. ConocoPhillips began this week to notify distributors of its increase, which is effective Oct. 11, a distributor said.
Those increases are in line with ExxonMobils increase of 5 percent to 9 percent, which was announced Aug. 21 and takes effect Oct. 1. The three companies have blamed their movements on higher costs for base oils, additives and packaging.
There was no word yet, sources said, of changes from other big lubricant marketers including Shell, Castrol, Valvoline and Citgo. Several independent marketers have reportedly announced their own hikes but have declined to confirm them to Lube Report.
The current round of hikes is the third this year for finished lubricants in the United States, with the first occurring near the end of the first quarter and the second around mid-year. With the latest increases, observers noted, branded passenger car motor oil prices will have risen by approximately $1 per gallon.
Although prices have gone up over the past years for all companies, including Amsoil, the percentage of increase that Amsoil has gone up is much lower than most other brands, especially petroleum oils. And with Amsoil’s extended drains, in many cases if you only drive 2-3 times longer than what you might be draining your oil at now, you will be saving. Now consider that you can drive 25,000 miles or one year using Amsoil as opposed to the standard 3,000 recommendation (over 8x the distance on one oil change), you can see the savings. Don’t forget with the various wholesale option available through Amsoil, your costs would be even less. E-mail me for more information at mike@technilube.com.
