stock up while oil's cheap?

[npauli]

I just realized that since crude oil is currently going for near half what it was a few months ago, that it might be a good time to stock up on motor oil that I'd intend to use later. Before I go nuts though, I though of a few questions:

1) Does the price of crude have a strong effect on the price of motor oil like it does on gas & diesel? Would conventional and synthetic oils be equally sensitive to the price of crude?
2) I'd guess that retail motor oil prices might not change nearly as fast as crude, gas, diesel, etc. Has anybody been watching the price of motor oil to see if it's started going down yet after the current drop in crude prices? I just checked some local prices: conventional 15w40 = $10-12/gal, synthetic 5W40 is about double that.
3) Does oil have a shelf life?

[More Power]

It's been my experience that when the spot price of crude goes up, the price of diesel fuel and most petroleum products quickly follows within days. It's also been my experience that when the price of crude falls, the pump price takes a few weeks to fall. We're told it takes a while before the lower priced fuel reaches the pump.......

If you're stocking up, buy in bulk - like 5 gallon containers from a distributor. Most petroleum products remain fresh for years if the containers are kept sealed. Synthetic products usually begin with a petro feedstock, so the world petroleum market does have an effect on synthetics.

Jim

[DmaxMaverick]

The price of crude effects more than just a product's content. Most products either contain petroleum, and/or petroleum products or petroleum by-products are used in the production process. When price of crude goes up, production and transportation costs go up, too. Crude is also used for energy production, which effects production costs.

[ToddMeister]

About a week ago Tractor Supply had Rotella-T 15W40 $19.99 for 2.5 Gallons.

TSC was out, but the Wally World next door had a bunch of those 2.5 Gal, and they price matched the TSC ad!