attacked and seriously damaged<\/a> in Iran. That means one of the leading suppliers of Group III base oils has been knocked offline indefinitely.\n <\/p>\n\n \u201cThe US is expected to run out of Mideast Gulf-origin Group III by June,\u201d ILMA said in a bulletin published last week.\n <\/p>\n
\n Normally, the United States would turn to South Korea to fill the gap, but Asian refiners rely on the Strait of Hormuz for much of their crude. And Asian refiners that do have access to crude are focused on making as much jet fuel and diesel as they can to capture historically high profit margins.\n <\/p>\n
\n Motor oil can also be made with Group II base oils, but those are also being diverted to diesel to meet demand and historically high margins.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cThe Group II safety valve is effectively closed,\u201d ILMA said in its bulletin.\n <\/p>\n
\n Alfano, the ILMA CEO, said her group is hearing anecdotal reports that certain parts of the United States are already facing shortages.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cIt\u2019s going to really get intense this summer,\u201d she said.\n <\/p>\n
\n Alfano said the industry has been in communication with the Energy Department, including talks on Friday with lieutenants to Energy Secretary Chris Wright.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cThey are turning over every stone. I have been impressed with that,\u201d Alfano said. \u201cUnfortunately, there is not a whole lot they can do. There is no easy answer.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
\n She noted that while there are two new lubricant production facilities slated to come online in the United States, they are not expected to start until next year.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cThe President and his entire energy team anticipated short-term disruptions to the global energy markets from Operation Epic Fury and had a plan prepared to mitigate these disruptions,\u201d White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers said in a statement, pointing to steps including waiving the Jones Act.\n <\/p>\n
\n Rogers said the administration is working closely with the private sector and industry to address concerns, \u201cexplore potential actions, and inform the President\u2019s policy decisions.\u201d She added that energy markets will stabilize and prices will \u201cplummet\u201d as Trump works to end the conflict.\n <\/p>\n
\n The Department of Energy is \u201cready to take additional action, if needed, to help avoid supply disruptions,\u201d Ben Dietderich, the press secretary for the Department of Energy, said in a statement.\n <\/p>\n
\n Valvoline \u2014 which operates 2,400 retail oil change service centers \u2014 said in a statement that it has not significantly raised prices and has \u201cadequate supply to serve our customers today and for the foreseeable future.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
\n Valvoline said it\u2019s working closely with its supplier to \u201cproactively manage any potential impact from the current market environment.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
\n Representatives for leading auto parts retailers, including AutoZone, Advance Auto Parts and Jiffy Lube did not respond to requests for comment.\n <\/p>\n
\n Mason Hamilton, chief economist at the American Petroleum Institute, said the trade group is \u201cclosely monitoring how the conflict in the Middle East may affect the motor oil market.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
\n Hamilton noted that API, which helps set standards for engine oil specifications, has already invoked emergency provisional licensing to give companies flexibility to pivot to alternative base oil supplies not impacted by the war.\n <\/p>\n
\n Michael Chung, senior director of market intelligence at the Auto Care Association, a trade group that represents automotive suppliers, distributors, maintenance and repair companies, told CNN that drivers should expect to feel yet another hit to their wallet, even if they delay maintenance that isn\u2019t critical.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cWe are still bullish on the aftermarket, but we recognize there are going to be supply chain challenges with motor oil availability and prices in the short term,\u201d Chung said. \u201cWe expect it to translate to higher prices ultimately for the consumer.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
\n Glenn, the JobbersWorld publisher, said that while he is concerned about shortages of motor oil, workarounds will likely be found because the alternative is untenable.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cAmerica is not going to stop driving cars. Trucks are not going to stop delivering goods. We\u2019re not going to come to a grinding halt,\u201d Glenn said.\n <\/p>\n
\n One option for the industry to proactively manage demand, according to Glenn, is that automakers will temporarily authorize the use of slightly higher viscosity motor oil that require much less Group III base oil.\n <\/p>\n
\n Other band-aids include changing the recommendations from automakers on how frequently they recommend vehicle owners get oil changes, and producers temporarily relying more on Group II base oil to make motor oil.\n <\/p>\n
\n Of course, there are costs to those stopgap solutions, including potentially damaging or compromising the long-term viability of engines.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cIt will be ugly to see how this is done,\u201d Glenn said. \u201cBut I think they will find a solution. Quitting is not an option. We\u2019ll find a way to keep America moving.\u201d\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Summary Wholesale motor oil prices are rising rapidly, and industry executives warn of imminent shortages due to the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":457908,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[114,184,85,46],"class_list":["post-457907","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy","tag-business","tag-economy","tag-il","tag-israel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/457907","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=457907"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/457907\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/457908"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=457907"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=457907"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=457907"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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