Originally posted by TLaven:
JavaContour,
I never said that the refinery puts ethanol into the gasoline at the refinery and then puts it into the pipeline going to the terminal. Actually not all areas have to put ethanol into the gasoline. Also I have never heard of an oil refinery making ethanol. The refinery I work at does not put any additives into the gasoline before it gets to the terminal. All the additives are added at the terminals. Again, I bet there are exceptions to this. The gasoline you buy in any large metropolitan area will have the additives added at the terminal.
If you have any more questions on how gasoline is made or how it gets to the gas station, just let me know and will explain it to you. I work with people who actually make, sell, and transport gasoline and other products produced in oil refineries.
Nope, didn't say you said that. I was just thinking out loud mostly about how and where gasoline is made and sold.
Now that you mention it, with the umpteen or so gasoline formulations mandated by the EPA in different areas of the nation, can a refinery make many different formulations then pipe them to the region? Or are these so different cost of "switching" to a different formula generally to prohibitive to make it worth while?
I know these different formulas can play havoc with regional gasoline prices when a refinery goes down. (We have very little reserve capacity, and haven't built a new refinery in several decades, IIRC.)
I also know that refineries don't manufacture the ethanol, but did learn from that Chevron site I linked, that it is generally blended at the terminal.
Thanks for the information, I love to learn new stuff, so share the secrets man
TB
