Global base oils markets grew more divided by region as Asia's broad supply softened Middle East disruptions, Europe's premium-grade supply drew on non-Middle East routes, though not enough to ease Group III tightness, and the US stayed structurally tighter.
Asia's broader supply base limited the impact of Middle East Group III disruptions, while the US stayed structurally tighter.
Singapore's prolonged production constraints kept imports elevated and exports subdued, giving rival Asian suppliers more time to strengthen relationships with buyers traditionally reliant on Singapore.
Japan, South Korea, China and India maintained elevated production or exports, allowing Asia to replace part of the lost Middle East supply while supporting regional availability.
Europe drew premium-grade supplies from Spain and Southeast Asia, preserving non-Middle East supply routes even as several of those alternative sources approached maintenance.
Brazil's improved balance came through greater reliance on US imports, even as US supply itself stayed constrained, leaving Brazil more exposed to disruption from the market it depends on most.
Record base oil refining margins at S-Oil and Luberef contrasted with more modest gains at blenders such as Castrol India, showing refiners captured the largest benefit from higher base oil prices while blenders largely passed through higher costs.
New long-term agreements between HF Sinclair, SK Enmove and Chevron secured access to existing Group II and Group III production but did not add new capacity, leaving North America's dependence on imported Group III unchanged.
India continued loading large export cargoes as overseas buyers sought alternative Group III supply.