True Confessions - Premium Gas

[MNBoxster]

Originally Posted by denverpete

Again, there are absolutely no differences in the base fuel (pre-additive) between brands at the pump. Some brands might have different purchasing guidelines for crude - but that doesn't affect what you buy at the pump. Bulk Terminals don't store fuel by "brand" just by octane. Your Chevron gas comes from the exact same storage tank that supplies Wal-Mart, Costco, Texaco, and every other fueling station in your region. The gas in the storage tanks might come from a Chevron, Texaco, or Sunoco refinery (or even all three). But, you would have no way of knowing where it came from.

HI,

Agreed 100%. To add. at the Refinery, they don't maintain or process the Crude separately either - it is all mixed together before refining.

This is because the different sourced Crudes all have slightly different content with respect to Sulphur, Water, and some other elements.

Refining the Crude in Bulk allows for greater quality control and a much more homogenous end product, not to mention the cost savings over processing the different Crudes separately...

Happy Motoring!...Jim'99

[MNBoxster]

Hi,

Also, you have to understand the Gasoline Infrastructure. If you live in the middle states, your Gas is probably refined in Texas and sent to your area via pipeline.

Your Oil Company may add 1 million Gallons to the Refinery (which then taskes about 10 days to get into the pipeline). The local Distrubutor may pull 1 million gallons from the pipeline today for sale, even though the Crude they sent to the Refinery isn't refined yet. So, they are pulling someone else's Gas from the pipeline, and so on.

The Oil Companies spend massive amounts of money on Marketing their products so you believe they're better than everyone else's. From some of the comments received in this thread, it appears to be fairly effective.

Fact is, it's much more important to buy Gas based on the local Retailers. Buy from reputable retailers. Last fall when Gas prices spiked, I saw one small independant retailer adding water to their underground tank with a Garden Hose! Adding 500 gal. to a 25,000 gal. tank would probably have little effect on the Car (most Cars ECU will compensate) but, at $3/gal., that's a hefty extra profit for the retailer. Also, dirt and moisture accumulate in underground tanks. You should try to buy your Gas from the Busiest station in your area, because their Tanks are constantly being Flushed and filled with fresh Gas and so will accumulate much less contaminates and moisture.

Happy Motoring!... Jim'99