My brother is pretty guible crackpot theory-wise. Normally I just let his ramblings roll over me without a care, but one has stuck with me. He warned me never to buy gas from stations that didn’t end in -co. Only the -co’s have high quality gases, says he. It sounds crazy, but I had to know, is there any validity to it.
I worked for a major oil company in a former life. In the corporate offices you understand, not in the field, but you still get to know a bit about the business.
Your brother should spend some time at a pipeline distribution point. He’d be amazed at the number of competitors’ gasoline trucks that fill themselves up from a common pipeline.
Seriously, those pipelines cost billions to develop, and it’s a lot cheaper for several companies to share one than for each of them to build their own.
I suspect what you brother is referring to is the theory that “discount” gas (petrol in some parts of the world) retailers often buy the product that the big companies won’t sell. One theory explained to me was that the botton fraction of the storage facilities (as in, percentage of volume, not distilled fraction of petroleum) was usually filled with miscellaneous sludge and particulate. Not wanting to taint their own products with poor quality gasoline, the big companies sell the fuel to discount retailers, who then are able to sell at a lower price at the pump.
I have no information on whether or not this is true, mind you. It sounds plausible, but I have idea about its veracity.
Shell, Chevron, Phillips 66, Coastal, Exxon … they ain’t sellin’ lighter fluid. What gas stations do in -co?
Conoco, Amoco, Sunoco, what else?
Texaco?
BTW, the only -co in Texas is Conoco. Sounds like a regional urban legend to me. drayton, where y’all from?
Oh yeah.
:smack:
I don’t know about the retail side, so I could be wrong, but I do believe Amoco has disappeared from this earth. Texaco is not far behind, and Conoco is headed that way, as well.
Are there still Amoco stations somewhere?
Tons of em here in Tennessee, and the local BP stations advertise that they now proudly sell high-quality Amoco gas!
Yeah, but Texaco and Shell merged a bit ago.
Heh, I worked at a Shell station at the time, and we tried to figure out if they would change the name for both. “Texashell? Shellaco? Ah, how about ‘Kick-Ass Gas’?” 
WillGolf: I thought as much. Thanks!
chriszarate: New Jersey (its’ not that bad, honest)
Cerowyn: I’ve heard that too. I thought that was what he was refering to, but he seems to think that every company ending in -co is a part of a huge company that has a monopoly on “good” gas. I don’t press him; it just encourages him.
Ringo: We have a couple Amoco stations scattered around the area. There are some Texacoes and Sunocoes, no Conocoes that I can think of.
Don’t forget ARCO.
BP has bought Amoco. So I guess now that they’ve changed their name, the “-co” cabal won’t let them buy good gas anymore, huh? Sounds like you need to tell your brother that there is no such word as “gullible” in the dictionary.