Retail Giant Raises Motor Oil Price, Caps Customer Purchases As Iran War Drags On

Costco is rationing motor oil and nearly doubling the price of its Kirkland Signature product as turmoil in global oil markets during the Iran war increasingly reaches American consumers.

The warehouse retailer raised the price of a two-pack of five-quart Kirkland Signature full-synthetic motor oil to roughly $58, up from around $30 last year, according to the Associated Press. Costco is limiting customers to two boxes per week and has also imposed purchase limits on some Mobil 1 motor oil products.

“I told you this was a possible consequence of the Strait of Hormuz closure in May. It isn’t just about the reality of the shortage once these stories start publishing,” attorney Antonio Moore wrote Sunday in an X post, referring to the critical oil chokepoint that has been effectively blocked since the Iran war began in February.

Costco’s website lists a limit of one transaction per membership and a maximum of two units every seven days for some Kirkland Signature full-synthetic motor oils, according to the retailer.

“It’s now about runs on oil on top of the actual shortage. That why Costco is implementing rationing. Don’t get caught without enough for an oil change or two to take with your car to the mechanic,” Moore wrote in his post.

The restrictions come as crude oil prices have surged amid disruptions to global energy supplies. Brent crude climbed above $109 per barrel Monday as the ongoing Iran war continued to restrict oil flows and a major Saudi pipeline used to bypass the Strait of Hormuz remained largely shut down following an attack, according to the Associated Press.

Motor oil is produced from the same crude oil refining system that supplies gasoline, diesel and other petroleum products. Refineries have some ability to shift their product mix in response to market prices, though that flexibility is limited, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

The EIA estimates that a typical 42-gallon barrel of crude produces nearly 20 gallons of gasoline and more than 12 gallons of distillate fuel oil, compared with less than half a gallon of lubricants.

Costco did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundations request for comment.

Oil Services Are Feeling The Squeeze

Costco is not the only company feeling the effects of the global oil crunch.

“The blockage of the Strait of Hormuz has created challenges in terms of pricing and availability,” a Jiffy Lube spokesperson told the DCNF.

Jiffy Lube operates more than 2,000 service centers across the United States and told the DCNF that industry supply constraints can occasionally leave individual locations temporarily without certain products.

“In times of industry supply constraints, there are instances where individual stores could experience temporary spot outages on a particular product(s),” the spokesperson said.

Individual Jiffy Lube locations are independently owned and operated, meaning franchisees make their own pricing decisions based on local market conditions, the company told the DCNF.

Oil change prices were already rising faster than overall inflation before the latest escalation in global oil markets. Prices across 15 major oil change providers, including Jiffy Lube, Valvoline and Take 5, increased 6.2% between July 2025 and July 2026, according to data from automotive consulting firm Ducker Carlisle.

The United States relies on the Persian Gulf for a significant portion of the Group III base oils used to manufacture synthetic motor oil, and disruptions to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz have squeezed those supplies, according to the firm.

The Oil Crunch Doesn’t Stop At Your Car

The effects of tightening petroleum supplies extend far beyond Americans buying motor oil or filling their own tanks.

Diesel prices blew past $6 per gallon nationally Friday, reaching $6.06 compared with $3.71 one year earlier, according to AAA. Trucks, trains, construction equipment and agricultural machinery rely heavily on diesel, allowing higher fuel costs to filter through transportation, farming and consumer goods.

Trucking is particularly exposed. Trucks moved 11.27 billion tons of freight in 2024, accounting for 72.7% of domestic freight tonnage, according to the American Trucking Associations.

Those costs can eventually reach Americans at the grocery store. Farmers use diesel to operate agricultural equipment and transport crops, while trucks move food from farms and processors through warehouses and distribution centers before it reaches grocery stores.

Pressure on those supply chains is mounting as multiple major oil routes face disruption. Traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remains severely constrained, while Saudi Arabia’s East-West Pipeline, one of the kingdom’s primary routes for bypassing Hormuz, was shut down following a drone attack.

The cost of physically transporting crude has also surged. Earnings for supertankers traveling from the Middle East to China reached a record $759,969 per day in September, while shipping crude from the U.S. Gulf Coast to China reached a record $29.5 million per voyage on Sept. 4.

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