American gas stations, do you have a preference?

[Fred1609]

Originally Posted by KenTheKanuck

When traveling in the States I try to avoid Arco and like to use Chevron. This is because in the past I have gotten bad tanks of gas or diesel from Arco or some of the smaller stations.

Have I just been unlucky or have others found that the fuel is better from some outlets than others?

I work in the oil and gas industry here in Canada and know for a fact that the same gas goes to many different name brand stations. Here on the west coast Chevron is the only refinery left as they do not have a refinery in the tar sands. All the rest of the companies do and finished product is shipped to the coast with the crude. So not much difference here.

Thanks



KTK

Unusual to here someone in the "industry" call the oil sands..the "tar sands". Even a numpty like me knows you can't get oil from tar and it doesnt look like tar....I get my back up a bit because thats largely what eviromentalists like to call this resource......likely because it paints a picture of some gooey black tar mass thats pulled out of the ground and left out to spoil the enviroment.

[Papa_Jim]

Originally Posted by Fred1609

Unusual to here someone in the "industry" call the oil sands..the "tar sands". Even a numpty like me knows you can't get oil from tar and it doesnt look like tar....I get my back up a bit because thats largely what eviromentalists like to call this resource......likely because it paints a picture of some gooey black tar mass thats pulled out of the ground and left out to spoil the enviroment.

Here in Canada, 'tar sands' is the common phrase. I've never heard it called 'oil sands'.

[Stillwater]

Originally Posted by jimkate

Here in Canada, 'tar sands' is the common phrase. I've never heard it called 'oil sands'.

Hold on a minute Jim! Do you not own any shares on the TSX market listed as COS? That would be Canadian Oil Sands Ltd. Get it Oil sands

[lincoln30]

Your local Chevron station may sell gas refined by Shell or Exxon Mobil. Suppliers share pipelines, so they all use the same fuel. And the difference between the most expensive brand-name gas and the lowliest gallon of no-brand fuel? Often just a quart of detergent added to an 8,000-gallon tanker truck.

As far as water or crud in the gas is a matter of how well the service station storage tanks are maintain. Water is heavier than gas and tends to settle to the bottom of the tanks. Alcohol attracts water (that's the main ingredient in gas line antifreeze). However this has been around forever. The draw tubes to the pumps are not completely at the bottom of the tanks so water is not drawn.

If you see a tanker in the station pass it up. Filling the tank stirs things up.