What's up with oil prices lately?

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I used to be able to get Havoline dino for around $1.19 a qt, now I can't find it for less than $1.59 a qt. I've also noticed the price of all oil brands has gone up at all the stores I've been to, and some dinos are over $2 a qt. This ridiculous! What is causing this big increase in oil prices?
 
My guess is R&D on the new SM spec, crude oil and additive prices in general, and walmart "setting the bar" for Havoline at $1.42/qt... which others use as a target for their prices.

Note: This week only, Riteaid has havoline at $.89/qt after rebate. It behooves you to stock up and start an "oil stash". There are plenty of clearance sales now on "old" SL spec oil which is (arguably) just as good (if not better) for your younger-than-2006 vehicle. If you take advantage of these sales and stock up I predict prices will fall or level off in ~6 months.
 
Yep, generally there is an price increase with any new spec. Most oils seem to have gone to higher grade base oils and/or different addative types.

-T
 
New lineup means price incease. Extended OCI seems like a better choice now days as engines are built better. I've been an Amsoil user for 20 years and couldn't have been happier with it's results.
 
Don't forget the cost of the raw product used as the input to the base oil - plain old crude oil in all its various flavors and variations - has increased dramatically over previous years as well. I had been surprised that there had NOT been much of an impact on motor oil prices until recently. Only seems logical that as the price of the raw material increased dramatically that the price of the product would also rise...
 
Its going to get worse, China is now the market for crude oil and if OPEC produces at maximum capacity, they still could not provide China with all the oil it wants at any price.

Gas is expected to rise to $3/gallon this year. An get this, for all you people with econo cars.. The states are getting less tax's from you and they are designing new ways to get more. Some are proposing a "pay for the miles you drive tax". Likely to begin in CA, your filler pipe would be fitted with a special device that can get your miles from the cars computer and then compute your tax at the pump. More miles driven = more tax paid.
 
That would not be so bad if only the state of California would spend the tax it collects on road repairs instead of other stuff. There are craters in the freeway that should have thier own zip codes. The least the state could do is advertise a new "Grand Canyon" and collect admission.
 
quote:

Originally posted by hannaco:
That would not be so bad if only the state of California would spend the tax it collects on road repairs instead of other stuff. There are craters in the freeway that should have thier own zip codes. The least the state could do is advertise a new "Grand Canyon" and collect admission.

Hannaco: It's the same here in NY. High gas taxes, high tolls on most roads and bridges and yet our roads are falling apart. Our politicians are buying votes (and creating an "entitlement" generation) with our tax revenues. We are becoming more and more like socialist Canada and Europe and this is despite the fact that Republicans control Congress and the Executive branch.(it would be worse with Dems in control). One of the big problems is that Americans have become addicted to "entitlements" aka handouts,freeos etc..
 
quote:

Originally posted by Blue99:
Take a stroll down the houshold chemical aisle & note that few, other than staight bleach, ammonia & vinegar, actually sell for less than $1.50 a quart.

Does volume have something to do with it? I'd guess that there are many more quarts of motor oil sold than quarts of any household cleaner.
 
What I don't get is why oil companies would be charging more now for the same ol' SL oil to make up the costs of producing the new SM oils. Why wouldn't they just recoupe the cost by charging more for the SM when it starts selling? Also, it's a known fact that the U.S. economy can't sustain $3 or more gas prices. It's also a known fact that if the U.S. economy goes down the crapper, so will the economy of all other countries. While oil producing countries may want to nibble at the hand that feeds them, they certainly don't want to bite it! They need our economy to stay strong because they need our money.
 
Based on the packaging, transportation & shelf stocking costs, I'm constantly amazed to see an oil blended & bottled on the Gulf Coast and selling for under a buck fifty here in Wisconsin.

Take a stroll down the houshold chemical aisle & note that few, other than staight bleach, ammonia & vinegar, actually sell for less than $1.50 a quart.

Dino motor oil is still one of the best deals around!
 
quote:

Originally posted by bottgers:
What I don't get is why oil companies would be charging more now for the same ol' SL oil to make up the costs of producing the new SM oils. Why wouldn't they just recoupe the cost by charging more for the SM when it starts selling? Also, it's a known fact that the U.S. economy can't sustain $3 or more gas prices. It's also a known fact that if the U.S. economy goes down the crapper, so will the economy of all other countries. While oil producing countries may want to nibble at the hand that feeds them, they certainly don't want to bite it! They need our economy to stay strong because they need our money.

Not to start an off-topic political argument, but Canada has had $3/gallon petrol for years, and our economy hasn't fallen apart. The UK, Germany, Hong Kong, and the rest of the world get by quite nicely with $4-$5/gallon petrol, and their economies are fairly robust.

I think what you will see in oil prices over the next number of years will be the concept of mean reversion. We are at historically low oil prices right now, especially for finished lubricants such as motor oils, and they are only bound to go up. I remember as a kid, my father spending $10 for the oil change in his car -- back in the early 80s, just on oil alone, straight Havoline in the cardboard/metal tins. That same oil change with the same car costs him $12 today in oil, yet everything else has doubled, tripled in price.
 
quote:

Originally posted by pitzel:

quote:

Originally posted by bottgers:
What I don't get is why oil companies would be charging more now for the same ol' SL oil to make up the costs of producing the new SM oils. Why wouldn't they just recoupe the cost by charging more for the SM when it starts selling? Also, it's a known fact that the U.S. economy can't sustain $3 or more gas prices. It's also a known fact that if the U.S. economy goes down the crapper, so will the economy of all other countries. While oil producing countries may want to nibble at the hand that feeds them, they certainly don't want to bite it! They need our economy to stay strong because they need our money.

Not to start an off-topic political argument, but Canada has had $3/gallon petrol for years, and our economy hasn't fallen apart. The UK, Germany, Hong Kong, and the rest of the world get by quite nicely with $4-$5/gallon petrol, and their economies are fairly robust.

I think what you will see in oil prices over the next number of years will be the concept of mean reversion. We are at historically low oil prices right now, especially for finished lubricants such as motor oils, and they are only bound to go up. I remember as a kid, my father spending $10 for the oil change in his car -- back in the early 80s, just on oil alone, straight Havoline in the cardboard/metal tins. That same oil change with the same car costs him $12 today in oil, yet everything else has doubled, tripled in price.


You're leaving out one important detail. None of those countrie's economies rely completely on transportation like our's does. Whenever there are drastic price increases here in gas and diesel the price of everything else goes up too. Our economy can absorb some short term increases in enegy prices, but I believe sustained prices of $3 or more would have devistating long term effects.
 
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