Last week was marked by several price increases on finished lubricants. The first was ExxonMobil's announcement on March 18th that, effective May 1, it will increase the price of its branded and unbranded lubricants and greases by up to 9%.

ConocoPhillips made its announcement the following day when it advised its marketers that effective May 1, it will raise the prices on all of its lubricants by 5 to 10%

The third announcement came on March 20th. That's the date Shell sent letters out to all its marketers saying there will be a general price increase of up to 10% on its lubricants. This increase goes into effect on May 2.

But the price increases didn't stop on Friday. That's because CITGO announced yesterday that it will implement a general price increase of 10% effective May 1. It should be noted that in addition to yesterdays price increase, CITGO announced on February 26th that it will increase the price of its MileMaster brand. JobbersWorld is told this price increase goes into effect April 1 and will move the price of MileMaster up a modest $0.14 a gallon.

In most cases, these recent announcement translate to marketers paying roughly $0.40 a gallon, or $0.05 a pound more for conventional lubricants. And for synthetic industrial lubricants, some marketers will pay close to $1.00 more a gallon as a result of this price increase.

In all cases, an as usual, the announced price increases were accompanies by statements saying these increases are the result of the higher cost of "base oil, additives, and packaging." - - Considering the price of base oil has gone up close to $0.30 a gallon just over the last month, and some additive companies have also increased their prices recently, it's not hard to understand the justification given this time around for the higher price of finished lubricant.

For anyone wondering why Chevron's name wasn't mentioned in last week's round of price increases, that's because they took the lead in this round with an announcement on February 21 that effective March 20 its prices were going up by 5 to 9%.

PetroLiance LLC, one of the largest fuel and lubricant distributors in the United States , has introduced a new fluid testing program, the Medallion Plus® Mentor Program, which provides significant advantages to the company's customers, according to company officials.

"The new Medallion Plus® Mentor fluid testing program is an outstanding analytical services program that offers important new benefits," said Scott Lane , the company's Chief Marketing Officer. "It enables PetroLiance customers to test all lubricants, fuel and coolants through a single program, while working with a highly trained, experienced PetroLiance representative who understands their business objectives."

He noted that customers are especially attracted to the ability to access all test data online, which eliminates the need for cumbersome paper reports. Typical turnaround time for standard tests is less than 48 hours, with the majority turned around in 24 hours or less. Another important advantage is the program's easy setup and administration.

In addition to it's new oil analysis service, PetroLiance also recently expanded its Medallion Plus® product line to include a new selection of industrial absorbents for use in a wide variety of industrial, automotive and maintenance applications.