$2.79 for 87 here in Mesa....

 

$3.18 for 87 here in Bako. @ Samsclub

 

I mean, I could probably go to Arco or "Sparky's" to get cheaper gas, but I dunno

I've read conflicting views. Does brand matter? Shell adds that V-Power thing, but it only comes with 91.

 

2.80 sams club here

 

Name brand gas is better for your car (the gas is the same but the additives are different). Whether it's worth the difference in price is a personal decision. I try to use Shell whenever possible because I get about 1.2 miles per gallon better mileage on the highway and I know the detergents and other additives are beneficial (that was in the Trans Am - I haven't put enough miles on the Mustang to really determine if it benefits as much).

I feel the price increase but I don't worry about the couple of cents difference between unbranded and name brand gas. Filling up at the half tank mark means that the 2-3 cent difference amounts to 16-24 cents on a fillup... not a lot of money compared to the benefits.

 

I have hauled fuel and delivered to all fuel stations and they get the same gas. It is a joke. Only thing that is better is the octane.

 

Sorry, no... you're wrong. Name brands like Shell, BP, Exxon, Sunoco, etc. are VERY picky about the gas they sell. I work for a regional Shell jobber and I know that any station that tries to sell non-Shell gas will lose their franchise the same day. The same applies to any of the other major brands.

Yes, the gas sold in unbranded stations is all the same. And some of the unbranded chains are well enough known that some might consider them brand names (Circle K, 7-11, Hess, RaceTrak, etc.) but they are "unbranded" as far as the gas they sell.

And octane has absolutely nothing to do with "better" gas. The energy potential of all grades is exactly the same. Higher octane just means there are additives to help prevent pre-ignition (knocking).

 

Years ago (90's) I had a friend that hauled fuel and he said the same thing. The difference was the particular additive added to different brand tanks at the time of delivery to make it "Chevron" blend etc. But he said the gasoline itself was the same.

(My friend was from Bakersfield too before moving to OR. But he's dead now. )

 

Yes, that's true - basic refined gasoline is all the same. It's the additives that make the difference between brands. Brand name gas has lots of proprietary additives designed to provide differentiation from other brands. The additives are added to the load in the delivery truck at the terminal. Unbranded gas has only those additives mandated by the government and is essentially the same at all unbranded stations.

EDIT: Actually, that's not 100% true... the exception is that Amoco Ultimate is refined an extra step to make it clear (rather than a sort of amber color) - so the basic gas is different even before the additives.

 

Well you would be the expert, not me.

But according to the driver in the field, the trucks had compartments that carried the different brand additives, and that would be added to the tank in the ground at the time of delivery at each respective brand name station. Therefore the gasoline in the main compartment was generic gasoline. Which is why he said often they would go and completely empty the gasoline in the truck at any one of the local stations - rather than deadhead 6 hrs back to the refinery with a few hundred gallons left in the truck.

Whereas if that truck had exclusive Shell or Chev or BP brand etc., they would not be able to do that. They would have to deadhead back home with gas on board rather than an empty truck. Because certainly, a brand name formula would not be dumped at generic stations without extra cost to the station, right? And generic stations don't pay extra since they can't get extra from the customers.

 

Years ago, things were sometimes done a little differently. Nowadays the trucks have a total capacity of 9000 gallons split into fixed compartments of 1000, 1500, 2500, and 4000 gallons that can be used in various combinations to transport different quantities of the fuel grades. They no longer have a separate compartment for additives. This is partly because the accuracy of mixing at the station was questionable and partly because it's faster and easier for the driver to pickup and deliver the finished product.

With real-time tank monitoring equipment, it is unusual that a truck will be unable to deliver its entire load but it does happen occasionally. In those cases we try to divert the excess to another of our stations nearby or we pay a freight penalty to the trucking company for the return trip. In the past, independent truckers used to sell excess name brand gas to unbranded stores at a reduced price just to avoid hauling it back. That meant you never really knew what you were getting at a lot of independent stations.

 

Gotcha.

 

FYI, ultimate is no longer clear. It was too expensive to keep making it that way.

 

When I started this thread, 87 octane was $3.34 at the Shell I always go to.

Tonight - $3.45!!

 

http://www.toptiergas.com/index.html

The only proof I can offer was some while back alot of people in my AO had problems with the corn subsidy blend being higher than 10% I never had a problem the whole time the tainted fuel was in the area.

I also see Exxon has been added to the list since that time.

 

$3.04 for 87 in savannah, ga

 

Anywhere from 2.899 to 2.969 around here for Regular depending on what side of town you are on.

As for the gas and blending it at the station, I do know with Unocal it was blended at their own Refinery and or Terminals before it went out in the tankers. This was in the 1980's when I used to haul out of Unocal's Los Angeles Terminal to other Unocal Distributors all over the west coast.

 

$3.15 for 87 and $3.50 for 93 here in MA

 

111.9 a liter so 4.40 a gallon

 

I see you are on the North Shore; here in central Mass it is a little lower, update from this morning:

Shell
87 -- $3.119
93 -- $3.399