Why There’s a Motor Oil Shortage in 2026

There’s a real motor oil shortage 2026 drivers are running into right now — if you’ve called around for an oil change lately and heard “we’re out of your grade, can you come back next week,” you’re not imagining it. In the spring of 2026, both Toyota and Nissan quietly told their dealer networks that supplies of certain motor oil grades were running short, and retail shelves at some Mobil and Shell locations have been thinning out too. Here’s what’s actually going on, straight from the source documents.

What Toyota’s Bulletin Says

On April 30, 2026, Toyota issued Service Bulletin 2026-013, authorizing dealers to make limited, temporary oil substitutions because of “ongoing global supply constraints impacting key raw materials and refining inputs.” The two grades affected are Genuine Toyota Motor Oil (GTMO) 0W-8 and 0W-16 — supplied through ExxonMobil.

The bulletin doesn’t call for a blanket switch. It authorizes dealers to substitute, for one service interval only:

About 20% of vehicles needing 0W-8 GTMO can instead receive 0W-16 GTMO
About 10% of vehicles needing 0W-16 GTMO can instead receive 0W-20 GTMO
These substitutions are meant to be used roughly one day per week, not as a permanent policy

Toyota’s memo indicates that warranty coverage stays intact when dealers follow this guidance — the point is to stretch limited supply across more cars while still protecting every engine, not to cut corners.

Nissan Is Rationing Too

Toyota isn’t alone. On May 1, 2026, Nissan issued its own allocation notice (NPSB/26-1009), capping supply of Genuine Nissan oil to dealers at roughly 55% of what they received the prior year. Two major automakers restricting oil supply in the same week is a strong signal this isn’t a one-dealer hiccup — it’s an industry-wide supply problem.

So What’s Actually Causing It?

The short answer: a squeeze on Group III base oil, the highly refined synthetic base stock that goes into most modern low-viscosity motor oils. Industry estimates put the loss at roughly 44% of normal U.S. Group III capacity, driven by three things happening at once:

Middle East crude logistics. Group III production depends heavily on refinery throughput. As crude flows through the Strait of Hormuz have tightened amid regional conflict, refiners have prioritized fuel yield over the base-oil byproducts that synthetic motor oil is built from.
Korean refinery constraints. South Korea’s major base oil producers — S-Oil, GS Caltex, and SK Innovation — are dealing with scheduled maintenance and rising crude costs at the same time, and Korea is one of the world’s largest Group III exporters.
Diesel economics. With distillate fuel margins elevated, refiners have an incentive to route vacuum gas oil toward diesel production instead of base oil extraction, competing for the same refinery capacity.

Why Hybrids and Newer Engines Are Hit Hardest

This is the part that catches a lot of owners off guard: it’s not old trucks running 5W-30 or 10W-40 that are affected. Those formulations lean more on Group II base oil, which isn’t in the same bind. It’s the newest, most fuel-efficient vehicles — especially hybrids — that need ultra-thin 0W-8 and 0W-16 oils, and those formulations depend the most on the Group III stock that’s now in short supply.

In other words, the shortage is concentrated exactly where automakers have been pushing engine design for the last several years: thinner oils for better fuel economy and faster cold-start protection.

What This Means for You

If your car calls for 0W-8 or 0W-16 — think many recent Toyota and Lexus hybrids, along with a growing list of other manufacturers’ low-viscosity-spec engines — you may run into a dealer that’s rationing, a store that’s out of stock, or a wait for your next oil change. Toyota’s own guidance shows that a properly formulated one-grade-up substitution is considered safe for a single interval, but it’s worth understanding what that actually changes under the hood before you assume any 0W-20 off the shelf is an equivalent swap.

We’ll break down exactly what these viscosity numbers mean — and where substituting is fine versus where it isn’t — in our next post. And if you’d rather skip the wait entirely, we’ll also cover which full synthetic options are still readily available in every one of these grades.

Have questions about what oil your vehicle actually needs during the shortage? Give us a call or text us at 647-208-7324, or order online — MyOilBuddy.com stocks AMSOIL synthetic oil across 13 distribution warehouses in the US and Canada, so availability isn’t the issue it is at some dealerships right now.