Why has this oil gotten so crazy expensive? Its absurd what it costs now.
Ravenol Cost?
- Thread starter FranklinJL
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The usual supply chain is no longer available which results in higher materials costs.
Higher cost of funds (Interest Rates)
Higher wages
Higher cost of funds (Interest Rates)
Higher wages
Their business model is hitting its limits:
- Buy oil in the middle east, ship to Germany
- Refine in Germany, the highest-cost production location
- Ship it to the US, the world’s #1 oil producer, to compete
Any small shock in those multiple, marginal links is going to ruin their competitiveness.
- Buy oil in the middle east, ship to Germany
- Refine in Germany, the highest-cost production location
- Ship it to the US, the world’s #1 oil producer, to compete
Any small shock in those multiple, marginal links is going to ruin their competitiveness.
What oil specifically do they purchase (and ship) from the Middle East?
I bought 5L jugs on the Ravenol NDT 5w40 in 2019 from Blauparts. Around $40 each on a flash sale.
Same oil is now $75 each per 5L jug.
Price is almost 2x. No more flash sales either.
Same oil is now $75 each per 5L jug.
Price is almost 2x. No more flash sales either.
No thank you.
I've bought probably $600+ of Ravenol from Blauparts in years past, before I really learned what the data generated from my vehicles was telling me. I was sold on the flashy advertising and what appeared to be incredible oils, and with the pricing at the time, felt like it was doing "better" for my engines.
Now that I've dug deeper into not only the statistics, but also the results, with help from several board experts, I've personally determined that there's no way to justify the cost of Ravenol, when there is at least one shelf oil that performs at least on par with Ravenol if not better for about $26/5qts and can be picked up at any WM (M1 FS 0w40). With some of Ravenol's oils well into the $100/5L range before shipping, it appears they're OK with pricing themselves out of everything but the most fervent fans' purchases.
Now that I've dug deeper into not only the statistics, but also the results, with help from several board experts, I've personally determined that there's no way to justify the cost of Ravenol, when there is at least one shelf oil that performs at least on par with Ravenol if not better for about $26/5qts and can be picked up at any WM (M1 FS 0w40). With some of Ravenol's oils well into the $100/5L range before shipping, it appears they're OK with pricing themselves out of everything but the most fervent fans' purchases.
The main problem is they don’t even carry their most interesting oils in the US now, although VST and VMP are quite good. Most people prepared to spend for VST probably would not have an issue paying even more for RUP once you’re at that price point.
Sources say a large part of their base stock comes from GTL from Pearl. This may be a positive for their product, but not a positive in price stability give logistical challenges.
You may need new sources since no FTIR analysis has ever shown GTL in a Ravenol product at the German and Russian oil club forums. It’s always PAO plus some III or V and one had a bit of AN.
Meaningless. If a pure base stock was simply blended, you’d detect it. If it were further refined, as Ravenol does, you would not detect it as such. Pearl provides feed stocks used in producing PAOs and other products, as well as completed base stocks for blending.
The point of the matter is that Ravenol is a high-cost producer. They don’t get all their chemical base stocks solely from the German home market, though it is a not insignificant source. A minute dissection of their supply sources is a tangential distraction.
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So, we are to believe that you can spot the GTL peaks in the spectrum with Shell / Pennzoil and Mobil products, but not Ravenol because they "refine it further"?
Obviously you are correct regarding their price pressures being a smaller blender in Germany in any case.
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Ravenol is not buying GTL from Shell and "further refining it". Shell offers a portfolio of GTL bases, either Ravenol is buying from that portfolio or they aren't. It's odd that Shell doesn't produce PAO, since Pearl does produce ethane, which is typically used as a feedstock for ethylene, to produce PAO, but then Shell has no history of PAO production either, so it may be cheaper for them to just buy it from XOM if they need it, which I would assume is rare, since it's not something we see in their products.
If I were going to chase an oil like Ravenol and pay the premium, I'd rather get HPL. They do have cool bottles though 
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.They aren’t buying basestocks. They get feedstocks, which Shell does indeed supply from Pearl production. I had in fact read some shell promotional literature on that just recently and can try to find it (it was on a shell website somewhere).
Bigger point, same as just made - with all the excellent boutique oil makers in the US, Ravenol has a really difficult sell and a severe economic disadvantage. I have a high regard for their products, but absolutely 0 reason to pay a premium for them over other equal options.
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Some engines are thoroughbreds, others are simply workhorses. Nothing wrong with a workhorse but boutique style oats are not necessary.
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