CL9 - Filled fuel with mobil supreme 98

[Haanda]

O.K. After a 25 year career in the oil industry (refining) please allow me to blow away the myths that I see written above.

Motor Gasoline is still refined (made) in W.A and Victoria.
Refinery's in S.A, QLD and NSW have closed. So some Petrol (Motor Gasoilne) is still made here.

What cannot be supplied by Australian Refinery's comes from refinery's in Singapore, India and Korea. These refinery's are owned by the major company's, Shell, BP, Exxon, Chevron, to name a few.

Exxon Mobil own the Refinery at Altona (Melbourne) but the company did get out of the retail trade, contracting it out to the 7-11 group.
Shell sold their one remaining Refinery at Geelong (Vic) to Swiss/Dutch consortium Viva, but their Retail Trade is contracted out to the Wesfarmers Group (Coles Express.) Some independents selling Shell products still exist, mainly in rural areas.
BP own the Refinery in W.A. and still has retail outlets around the country. It specialises in roadhouses on the major highways.
Caltex (Texaco) no longer refines products in this country but has remained in the retail trade.
United Fuels, Anderson Petroleum (APCO)and other larger and smaller independents, buy their gasoline from one of the major refiners.

Now the products coming out of the 3 remaining Australian refinery's, as well as from the overseas refinery's that make up the country's demand, are identical, simply because there is an International Standard that all company's adhere to.
To put it simply, 98 RON gasoline is 98 RON gasoline, 95 is 95 etc etc, no matter what name it is sold under. BP "Ultimate", Shell "V" Power, Caltex Vortex...!

91 and 95 RON gasoline contains some detergent additives, suspended in by upper cylinder lubricant. These additives differ slightly from company to company and are added at the distribution gantry.
98 RON , due to its highly acidic nature, does not contain any detergent. The raw gasoline components in 98 and also that gasoline's density, do differ vastly from those in 95 and 91. It's more dense (heavier)

91 RON also contains traces of Sulphur, 95 and 98 RON do not.

Irrespective of Octane Rating, there are 3 blends made for Australian Conditions. Winter, Summer and Autumn/Spring in the southern parts of the country and in the north, it's Summer blend, all year round.
The only difference in these blends is the amount of Propane/Butane injected into the mix at blending, which controls the fuels volatility according to the season.
More Propane/Butane is needed in Winter than Summer, as the fuel has to be more volatile to make cold starting more reliable. (Believe me, you don't want to have a tank of winter blend gasoline in your car on a 40C day. The cars engine will be plagued by vapour locks if you do! (: )

But in the bulk storage tanks in the refinery where the product was refined and blended, it's all the same. 91 RON, 95 RON or 98 RON.

So if you are purchasing Shell or Caltex or BP fuel in southern W.A, it will have come from the BP Refinery at Kwinana.
Similarly if you are buying from BP, Shell, Caltex or maybe from a 7-11 store, in Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania, or Southern NSW, it will have come from either the Exxon Mobil Refinery at Altona or Viva Refinery in Geelong.
It is when you are buying fuel in Northern WA, Queensland, NT or Central and Northern NSW, or if there is a shortage in one of the aforementioned southern states, it will have come in from Singapore, India or Korea.
However the product will be identical to same octane rated gasoline refined here in Australia.

So whether you put in Petrol from Shell or Caltex, if it's the same octane then it won't make an ounce of difference, except maybe for your wallet if the say Caltex stuff was 1 or 2 cents a litre cheaper.
The difference will come from using 95 RON or 98 RON over 91 RON, irrespective of the brand name.

In some cases it will be quite noticeable, depending on what the engine was tuned for initially by the manufacturer.
In other cases it will be negligible.
(Sometimes you will notice better performance by running your cars tyres at a higher pressure!)

My choice? Well I know what base gasolines are used in the different blends and some of it, although legal, is what I could only describe as "liquid excrement." My fellow workers used more colourful terms.
My family use 98 RON in their private cars, across the board, irrespective of the price difference. We have no brand preference, but try to support one of the independents where possible.

2 of my family also drive company owned cars. They use what the fleet manager specifies. (in one case it is LPG)

But.......using 98 RON is my personal choice. You make your own. (: