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There was a start of a discussion on a pre-buy thread regarding auto fuel and mandated ethanol use by retailers, etc. I'll start this thread and try to clarify some statements made by others, as well as touch upon Bruce Bixler's comments on the front page of the latest newsletter coming to a mailbox near you.
There was a comment it was federal law that ethanol (alcohol) of some sort was mandated to be used in auto fuel in the U.S. Fortunately, this is NOT true, however, there are incentives out there for retailers to utilize ethanol in their fuels. The incentives are usually tax breaks which add up to a rather large chunk of change if you think of the gallonage these places sell. Sam's Club, who was selling ethanol free fuel in my area, apparently felt it necessary to save some cash and started carrying fuel with up to ten percent ethanol. I've noted it to be around five percent when testing. You will also find that the majors, BP, Equilon (Shell), etc., will always take care of their retailers first before selling to others. Therefore, when a catastophe hits, hurricanes, etc., and production is shut down they will only take care of their own. That is why you may see other non-major gas stations selling for a penny or two higher during these times, to increase profits and to slow usage by the consumer.
To touch on Bruce's comments about Chevron and BP (Amoco), he did not indicate if it was premium gas he was talking about or regular. As I have stated in earlier posts, regular grade gas is bought and sold by the gasoline companies in the pipeline and the truck. Therefore ALL regular grade gas is usually the same. If you are buying, for example, Shell brand gasoline for your car because someone told you to because it was better, DON'T! Buy it at the cheaper stations, as you are getting the same thing. (Just pick a station that stays busy so you don't get old gas) The upper grade Premium, however, should not contain alcohol. My sources advised BP (Amoco) Premium, not mid-grade, SHOULD be alcohol free. BUT ALWAYS TEST IT!!! As a reminder when you test remember the single hose pumps can throw off the test. Pump a gallon or two into your vehicle to clear the line of any gas containing ethanol and then get your sample for your test before filling your fuel cans. To answer a question on the other post......the only regular grade ethanol-free gas I can find in my area now is an FS store who sells it for ten cents more than regular grade with ethanol. The fuel of course varies from area to area and California seems to be a whole different set of circumstances. With the way the oil producing region is getting hit time after time it is hard to say what we will be getting. And Bruce, I apologize, as I read the newsletter really quick before getting back to work and probably did not cover everything. If you have a specific question I may be able to get a specific answer. Let me know.
Here are some statistics:
Five confirmed closures of refineries after Rita hit, about 1.6 millions bbl/day.
Five more, closure decisions pending, 1 million bbl/day.
Pipeline shutdowns: Five pipelines shut down.
Still down following Katrina:
Four refineries with about 925,000 bbl/day.
Offshore companies have evacuated facilities-469 platforms and 69 rigs being evacuated. This represents about 1,100,000 bbl/day of crude oil, which is over 73 percent of daily Gulf Coast oil production.
There was a comment it was federal law that ethanol (alcohol) of some sort was mandated to be used in auto fuel in the U.S. Fortunately, this is NOT true, however, there are incentives out there for retailers to utilize ethanol in their fuels. The incentives are usually tax breaks which add up to a rather large chunk of change if you think of the gallonage these places sell. Sam's Club, who was selling ethanol free fuel in my area, apparently felt it necessary to save some cash and started carrying fuel with up to ten percent ethanol. I've noted it to be around five percent when testing. You will also find that the majors, BP, Equilon (Shell), etc., will always take care of their retailers first before selling to others. Therefore, when a catastophe hits, hurricanes, etc., and production is shut down they will only take care of their own. That is why you may see other non-major gas stations selling for a penny or two higher during these times, to increase profits and to slow usage by the consumer.
To touch on Bruce's comments about Chevron and BP (Amoco), he did not indicate if it was premium gas he was talking about or regular. As I have stated in earlier posts, regular grade gas is bought and sold by the gasoline companies in the pipeline and the truck. Therefore ALL regular grade gas is usually the same. If you are buying, for example, Shell brand gasoline for your car because someone told you to because it was better, DON'T! Buy it at the cheaper stations, as you are getting the same thing. (Just pick a station that stays busy so you don't get old gas) The upper grade Premium, however, should not contain alcohol. My sources advised BP (Amoco) Premium, not mid-grade, SHOULD be alcohol free. BUT ALWAYS TEST IT!!! As a reminder when you test remember the single hose pumps can throw off the test. Pump a gallon or two into your vehicle to clear the line of any gas containing ethanol and then get your sample for your test before filling your fuel cans. To answer a question on the other post......the only regular grade ethanol-free gas I can find in my area now is an FS store who sells it for ten cents more than regular grade with ethanol. The fuel of course varies from area to area and California seems to be a whole different set of circumstances. With the way the oil producing region is getting hit time after time it is hard to say what we will be getting. And Bruce, I apologize, as I read the newsletter really quick before getting back to work and probably did not cover everything. If you have a specific question I may be able to get a specific answer. Let me know.
Here are some statistics:
Five confirmed closures of refineries after Rita hit, about 1.6 millions bbl/day.
Five more, closure decisions pending, 1 million bbl/day.
Pipeline shutdowns: Five pipelines shut down.
Still down following Katrina:
Four refineries with about 925,000 bbl/day.
Offshore companies have evacuated facilities-469 platforms and 69 rigs being evacuated. This represents about 1,100,000 bbl/day of crude oil, which is over 73 percent of daily Gulf Coast oil production.
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