Where do you get your gas?

[funk_drum]

A fellow with whom I work used to be employed by an oil services & equipment company and he told me some interesting things about the business.

He worked on a pipeline at a pumping station and said that they would run XXX hundred thousand gallons of a certain brand (Exxon, Amoco, Chevron, etc.) through the pipeline at a time. It was a pipleline that served most of the Eastern Seabord of the USA and he explained how the stuff was pushed through the system.

When they changed over to another brand, there were several thousand gallons that might be a mixture of two brands as one was phased in and the other was phased out. That 'off-brand' stuff was then sold to the Zippy Mart, East Coast, Costco, BJs, 7-11, Kroger, discount or other non-branded fuel retailers. It might be ten thousand gallons of Mobil and Amoco mixed, but would still be decent stuff. Since the gasoline and the additive mix might not be 100% of one brand or the other, they could not sell it as "Exxon" or "Chevron" or whatever. {They wanted to keep the juice flowing, so they did not have a dry pipeline.}

Even so, all of the fuel still had to meet all EPA standards and different areas only a few miles apart might have different blend requirements. Blends even differ from summer to winter as well. In our area, Richmond and the surrounding counties require reformulated gasolines.....but Petersburg (20 miles south) does not; so prices are often 3 to 5 cents lower there.

Watch some of the oil tanker trucks that you see on the road. Very few even have a brand name on the side and you'll often see them make multiple stops in an area (as that is the most efficient way to do it). A single truck might drop 1000 gallons at an Exxon station and then drive down the street to a 7-11 and unload some more -- and may make a third delivery at a Kroger store where they sell gasoline. It all comes from the same tank farm.

There's probably a lot more to that business than any of us realize......but I don't think I have ever gotten a bad batch of gasoline but once or twice in 25 years of driving. I did get some bad diesel fuel for my work truck once, but that was probably because it had somehow gotten some water in it.

No matter what brand or grade of unleaded you use, consider pouring a bottle of fuel injector cleaner into your gas tank after every oil change. Also, avoid letting your tank get below 1/8 of the way full. That way, you'll have less concentration of sediment in the bottom of your fuel tank and a smaller chance of it ending up being sucked into your fuel line (and into your engine).

Okay, that's my two cents for the night.

That's how Keystone beer got its start. It was a mix of Coors and Coors Light.

 

[TeryT]

That's how Keystone beer got its start. It was a mix of Coors and Coors Light.

They sent Coors through the oil pipeline!? :arrow:

 

[jbrhymer]

Chevron or 76 99.9% of the time. Gas is mostly refined and shipped in from the same location for all gas stations. It is really the additives that make the difference from one station to the other. Well that and storage of the product and so on.

I just trust Chevron and 76 the most.

 

[Atlanta_man]

www.colpipe.com

by the way, in the pipeline gasoline batches are segregated into water-white (BP Amoco Premium) and generic reg and generic prem

they are allowed to dump up to 5% by volume of most any transmix (diesel/kero) into regular; premium is protected from this. Sometimes a big batch of premium is downgraded to regular because a little bit something else got in it along the way through the pipe and into and out of tanks along the way. The valve switching and tanking and line wash activities are not always executed perfectly.

The 40+ counties around Atlanta get Atlanta-gasoline (with specific epa mandated oxygenates)

The only thing that differentiates brands are the additives the truck driver dumps in at the terminal before he sets out on his way to the gas stations.

 

[SH0ck-D]

I only put 76 gas into my 4Runner.

From personal experience, I recieved the best performance while using the 76 Branded Gas. Performance based on driving feel and gas mileage.

 

[AlexJet]

PetroCanada, Shell or Sunoco - best gas stations in Canada. They are not the cheapest, but best quality on the market.

 

[TeryT]

Well this is all fine & good, but I'm not sure what this info does for us! Perhaps we should start a poll.

I suggest it be simplified as to 2 categories: Top Tier & non-Top Tier.

 

[01silverSR5]

Well this is all fine & good, but I'm not sure what this info does for us! Perhaps we should start a poll.

I suggest it be simplified as to 2 categories: Top Tier & non-Top Tier.

After doing a little bit of research, I will ONLY fill up at a top tier station. Thanks to all who contributed to this thread!

 

[TeryT]

After doing a little bit of research, I will ONLY fill up at a top tier station. Thanks to all who contributed to this thread!

We have converted you! Welcome, my son, to the Top Tier!:cheers:

And there are loads of Quik Trips down your way - the cheapest & the best - what could be better!?

(I really love QT. They typically have the cleanest stations, friendliest & most professional people, good prices on munchies, etc. If they weren't a privately held company, I would be a buyin' their stock!)

 

[nated05]

We have converted you! Welcome, my son, to the Top Tier!:cheers:

And there are loads of Quik Trips down your way - the cheapest & the best - what could be better!?

(I really love QT. They typically have the cleanest stations, friendliest & most professional people, good prices on munchies, etc. If they weren't a privately held company, I would be a buyin' their stock!)

Yep QT for me too!!

 

[01silverSR5]

We have converted you! Welcome, my son, to the Top Tier!:cheers:

And there are loads of Quik Trips down your way - the cheapest & the best - what could be better!?

(I really love QT. They typically have the cleanest stations, friendliest & most professional people, good prices on munchies, etc. If they weren't a privately held company, I would be a buyin' their stock!)

There is a QT a mile from my house. It works out great!!

 

[TeryT]

Their's now a poll posted - go check it out!

 

[jackz]

The chance of ALWAYS getting gas made by brand where purchased lies somewhere between slim & none.
What you will get is the associated brand additive such as "Techron" w/ Chevron etc.
The oil companies exchange products all the time, the only difference being the additive added at the time of loading on the tanker for delivery.
In remote areas the tankers are pulling from the same tks and they add the specific brand additive depending on where the product is to be delivered.
Generic branded gasoline, my guess is they use generic additives, if any.
Cleric, I disagree w/ you RE : Chevron.
Techron has long been the #1 additive.

Texaco had System 3, which wasn't shabby, but Chevron bought Texaco upstream interests, which included Havoline and I'm pretty sure the System 3 formula.
Prior to their (Chevron) purchase, Shell & Texaco were bedmates.
Shell now uses a new and improved additive in their "Premium Only"...
Any guesses where it may have come from ???
BTW...... I work for one of the above
Jack