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Pretty Please - add it to our Events forum(s) and add to the calendar! >> 
aeronca65t
Great Pumpkin
Offline
Yeah, I'd have to agree that the local station has a huge influence. Things like clean tanks, high sales volume (so the gas is always fresh), regular tank filter changes, etc. make a real difference.
Living here is NJ not that far from the Bayway refinery, I can tell you that trucks marked "Exxon", "BP", "Texaco", "Chevron", "Valero", etc., all pull into the same fuel depot and fill up from the same source. Then they go directly off the replenish their gas stations. So as far as I can tell, it's all the same stuff.
One slight difference in fuels is seasonal (but this doesn't affect states in the warmer climates). Winter auto fuels in some colder areas (like mine) are "oxygenated" to reduce cold temperature emissions. It may also improve cold-weather starts. The stuff added to oxygenate the fuel tends to reduces performance and economy slightly. During Springtime, if there is an excess of oxygenated fuel, this "Winter fuel" is sold at a discount to the off-brand labels. They usually pass on the discount to motorists. The fuel economy and power difference is likely not noticeable to most folks and the RON (anti-knock) ratings are unchanged (It's against US federal law to sell gas that is not truly the advertised octane).
By the way, ethanol is the most popular oxygenate added to "winter fuels" in colder climates.
As for "sweet" crude: this is crude oil that is low in sulfur. The old Pennsylvania oils were supposed to be "sweet" (I'm not actually sure about this).
These days, Nigeria is a prime source of sweet crude. Much of the oil we get from Venezuela, Canada and the Middle East is "sour", meaning it has a higher sulfur content. This sour crude require more processing to remove the extra sulfur, so this adds to the cost. Gasoline that we use in North America is made from a mix of these sweet and sour crudes, depending on what's available. If they use more "sour" in the mix, it needs more processing. Same thing with home heating oil, diesel fuel, etc.
This emphasis on reducing sulfur in fuels is the same in most developed nations.
In many third world nations as well as China and India, (where enviromental laws are more lax) there is less effort to remove the sulfur from gasoline, heating oil, etc.
By the way, many of the very modern diesel cars in Europe require ultra-low sulfur fuel that is cleaner than the stuff in North America (the Euro-version of the Mercedes Bluetec diesel is an example of one of these "green" diesels). The US and Canada are transitioning to this "S15 (ULSD)" low sulfur diesel right now. There are a number of Candian refineries coming on line to make more of this reduced-sulfur diesel fuel as demand rises.
Living here is NJ not that far from the Bayway refinery, I can tell you that trucks marked "Exxon", "BP", "Texaco", "Chevron", "Valero", etc., all pull into the same fuel depot and fill up from the same source. Then they go directly off the replenish their gas stations. So as far as I can tell, it's all the same stuff.
One slight difference in fuels is seasonal (but this doesn't affect states in the warmer climates). Winter auto fuels in some colder areas (like mine) are "oxygenated" to reduce cold temperature emissions. It may also improve cold-weather starts. The stuff added to oxygenate the fuel tends to reduces performance and economy slightly. During Springtime, if there is an excess of oxygenated fuel, this "Winter fuel" is sold at a discount to the off-brand labels. They usually pass on the discount to motorists. The fuel economy and power difference is likely not noticeable to most folks and the RON (anti-knock) ratings are unchanged (It's against US federal law to sell gas that is not truly the advertised octane).
By the way, ethanol is the most popular oxygenate added to "winter fuels" in colder climates.
As for "sweet" crude: this is crude oil that is low in sulfur. The old Pennsylvania oils were supposed to be "sweet" (I'm not actually sure about this).
These days, Nigeria is a prime source of sweet crude. Much of the oil we get from Venezuela, Canada and the Middle East is "sour", meaning it has a higher sulfur content. This sour crude require more processing to remove the extra sulfur, so this adds to the cost. Gasoline that we use in North America is made from a mix of these sweet and sour crudes, depending on what's available. If they use more "sour" in the mix, it needs more processing. Same thing with home heating oil, diesel fuel, etc.
This emphasis on reducing sulfur in fuels is the same in most developed nations.
In many third world nations as well as China and India, (where enviromental laws are more lax) there is less effort to remove the sulfur from gasoline, heating oil, etc.
By the way, many of the very modern diesel cars in Europe require ultra-low sulfur fuel that is cleaner than the stuff in North America (the Euro-version of the Mercedes Bluetec diesel is an example of one of these "green" diesels). The US and Canada are transitioning to this "S15 (ULSD)" low sulfur diesel right now. There are a number of Candian refineries coming on line to make more of this reduced-sulfur diesel fuel as demand rises.
