Supermarket Petrol / Big Brand Petrol

jjames_3

This is probably purely psychosomatic, but I've noticed that with Tesco petrol my Hyundai seems to be a bit noisier than with other petrols. I don't see how this can be because Tesco use Esso fuel, but it does seem that way.

No difference in performance or consumption though -- I seem to be able to get 40mpg out of this 1.3 no matter what speed or how much I thrash it about.

CrazyChemist_2

jjames wrote:

This is probably purely psychosomatic, but I've noticed that with Tesco petrol my Hyundai seems to be a bit noisier than with other petrols. I don't see how this can be because Tesco use Esso fuel, but it does seem that way.

No difference in performance or consumption though -- I seem to be able to get 40mpg out of this 1.3 no matter what speed or how much I thrash it about.

How do you know that Tesco uses ESSO fuel and if so is this the same all over the country??

jjames_3

See here...

http://www.corporatewatch.org.uk/profiles/food_supermarkets/tesco/tesco5.html

In 2001 Tesco finalised a deal with Esso whereby Esso would provide all the petrol for Tesco filling stations and out-of-town centres. Esso is part of the Exxon corporation, which has been heavily criticised for many environmental issues, including donating money to George W Bush's election campaign and presumably thereby influencing the US's denial of climate change.

AP

jjames wrote:

See here...

http://www.corporatewatch.org.uk/profiles/food_supermarkets/tesco/tesco5.html

Is this arrangement still current? When I fill up at a Tesco garage (not Tesco Express), the screen on the till actually says 'TOTAL+ FUEL'. However, the fuel at Tesco Express is definitely Esso as it has the Esso Energy logo at the pump and you do not get Clubcard points with fuel.

Altarf

All of the oil companies have arrangements to supply each other with fuel in those locations where they do not have a refinery or storage.

As the main refineries are at the following locations -

Scotland (Grangemouth) - BP
South West England (Fawley) - Esso
South East England (Coryton) - BP
Wales (Pembroke) - Texaco
Wales (Milford Haven) - Elf/Murco
North West England (Stanlow) - Shell
Humberside (Killinghome) - Conoco
North East England (Cleveland) - Petroplus

if you are in one of these areas, you can be fairly certain that whatever petrol or diesel that you buy (branded or supermarket), it will have come from the closest refinery.

If you are in the centre of England, then the fuel will have come via pipeline to one of the distribution terminals, such as Buncefield or Kingsbury, and as these are linked to a number of refineries (Coryton, Stanlow, Pembroke, etc), it could be any of the oil companies fuel that you end up buying.

As for the supermarkets, given that Sainsburys, Tesco, etc don't own any oil refineries, then the fuel will have come from one of the oil company refineries. Each of the supermarkets will have entered into a deal with one or other of the oil companies to supply them. However even if Tesco have a deal with Esso, if you fill up at a Tesco in Scotland, the fuel will almost certainly have come from the BP refinery in Grangemouth.

Therefore the only difference that can exist between the brands of petrol is the additives that are put into the fuel before it is sold. Whether the additives make any difference will depend on what you drive and how you drive it.

The only exception to the above is Shell Optimax, which wherever you buy it comes from Shell.

CrazyChemist_2

There is a major BP refinery just outside Swansea too.

Altarf

CrazyChemist wrote:

There is a major BP refinery just outside Swansea too.

BP's refinery in Llandarcy closed in the late 90s.