If practically all gasolines are the same, is this another way the oil companies are ripping people off????

Question

There are three grades of gasoline such as regular,supreme, and extrasupreme which has been proven to be practically the same. Just like in fashions there name brands that sell because of the name or what ever extra additive is supposed to be in the gasoline. However, it has been recently that all of those different brands of gasoline are about the same anyway. Is this another way the gas companies are ripping the american people? Is there something the people can do about it?

Answer 1

Sorry, people want choice and they got choice. Like the burgers.

Answer 2

The different grades are designated by there anti-knock index.
Knock is the tendency of gasoline to ignite in the cylinders before it is supposed to (the spark plugs fire). Octane is just a hydrocarbon molecule that is found in all "gasoline" fuels. It is harder for this molecule to combust prematurely compared to the other types of molecules in gasoline. Therefore, the more octane, the harder it is for knock to occur. Knock can destroy a motor very quickly, it is when gasoline preignites explosively instead of a controlled and even burn. Most engines are just fine running on the "cheap" stuff. But, performance turbocharged or supercharged engines need the extra knock.

A common myth is that you will get better gas mileage if you use the more expensive stuff. This is false. Octane has nothing to do with mileage.

I hope this helped you. Probably more information than you wanted, but it is still just a drop in the bucket.

To answer your question then, no, the oil companies are not trying to rip you off in this way. All grades of gasoline are not the same.

Answer 3

The oil companies have been closing refineries over the years, each time one of them buys out one of the others. When they do this, they close or partially close a refinery until the total capacity is close to the average demand for products. The resulting shortages are what is driving up the prices. This has been going on for more than 10 years.
The government has set the bar to reopen or re certify the refineries so high that there is no economical reason for a refiner to restart or build a refinery. The oil companies get more money for their product, and have less overhead (labor) costs involved in producing their product. Remember, refining is a process, not a manufacture, meaning that when you put the raw material in, a number of finished product comes out. Refineries make 100's of products, not just fuel oil and gasoline. Each of these products have a bearing on the cost of each of the other products. Many of the newest materials and chemicals invented or discovered in the last 100 years have been made by the oil companies trying to find a use for the by-products of the refining process.

Answer 4

Here's the logic from the point of view of corporations:

In theory rational consumers should go out and, when shopping for a good or a service, buy from whomever can offer that good or service most cheaply (all other things being equal). Corporations hate this because it costs them money-- ideally they would like to price their products at a level that will maximize their profits, a price where if they go any higher they'll lose customers and if they go lower the increase in customers won't offset the price increase.

However if you have a lot of companies competing corporations can undercut each others prices-- the company in the above example will likely find that another company will charge slightly less for gas in order to lure away its customers, and the company will have to drop its prices to compete.

This however assumes that all consumers are rational. Companies know better and work hard to convince customers that their product is better and to create brand loyalties which ensure that people will pay less attention to the price of a product. For example I prefer Coke to Pepsi, and when I go to the supermarket I'll go pick up a 12 pack of Cokes, pay no attention to the price, and not glance at Pepsi or RC Cola. This is simply because I have a brand preference, and this allows Coke to charge me more than would be possible if I didn't.

Companies that sell gas are no different--they want to convince you to go into their service station and buy their gas, even if the stuff in the independent station across the street is slightly cheaper.

Answer 5

The three grades of gasoline are the same grade of gasoline adjusted to a higher grade by the addition of grades of octanes.

Octane slows down the speed of the explosion and is useful in preventing engine "Ping" or the sound that an engine make when the explosion hits the top of the piston before the piston gets to top dead centre

Answer 6

The difference is the octane rating, while most cars run on low octane there are some that require higher octane.