# If they can make synthetic oil, why not synthetic gasoline? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 18, 2005, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-they-can-make-synthetic-oil-why-not-synthetic-gasoline/317532 "2005-08-18T03:07:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Thin\_Lizzy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9a140/32.png) [@Thin\_Lizzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thin_Lizzy)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2005, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-they-can-make-synthetic-oil-why-not-synthetic-gasoline/317532/1 "2005-08-18T03:07:08Z")
Is it impossible, or just a issue of cost? ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2005, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-they-can-make-synthetic-oil-why-not-synthetic-gasoline/317532/2 "2005-08-18T03:16:06Z")
> [@Thin Lizzy](#): > > Is it impossible, or just a issue of cost? I am not a chemist, but here’s the basic difference: oil provides mechanical lubrication and gasoline provides chemical energy. There’s lot of ways to create lubrication but you can’t make energy out of nothing (please spare me a thread on quantum physics here). Petroleum is used for lubrication because it happens to be good at it but there’s plenty of competition, including synthetics. I do not know the chemical composition of synthetic lubricants but I bet I could find out if I had 30 seconds to Google it. ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2005, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-they-can-make-synthetic-oil-why-not-synthetic-gasoline/317532/3 "2005-08-18T04:51:11Z")
> [@Thin Lizzy](#): > > Is it impossible, or just a issue of cost? It’s an issue of cost. Gasoline can be made by a great many methods from other hydrocarbons. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2005, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-they-can-make-synthetic-oil-why-not-synthetic-gasoline/317532/4 "2005-08-18T05:07:37Z")
> [@](#): > > The bulk of a typical gasoline consists of hydrocarbons with between 5 and 12 carbon atoms per molecule. > > The various refinery streams that are blended together to make gasoline all have different characteristics. Some important streams are: > > ``` > * Reformate, produced in a catalytic reformer with a high octane and high aromatics content, and very low olefins (alkenes). > * Cat Cracked Gasoline or Cat Cracked Naphtha, produced from a catalytic cracker, with a moderate octane, high olefins (alkene) content, and moderate aromatics level. Here, "cat" is short for "catalyst". > * Hydrocrackate (Heavy, Mid, and Light), produced from a hydrocracker, with medium to low octane and moderate aromatic levels. > * Natural Gasoline (has very many names), directly from crude oil with low octane, low aromatics (depending on the crude oil), some naphthenes (cycloalkanes) and zero olefins (alkenes). > * Alkylate, produced in an Alkylation unit, with a high octane and which is pure paraffin (alkane), mainly branched chains. > * Isomerate (various names) which is made by isomerising Natural Gasoline to increase its octane and is very low in aromatics and benzene content. > > ``` [Wikepedia-Gasoline](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GASOLINE) ---
**Author:** ![Dog80](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6bbea6/32.png) [@Dog80](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dog80)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2005, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-they-can-make-synthetic-oil-why-not-synthetic-gasoline/317532/5 "2005-08-18T05:49:18Z")
Premium quality, fully-synthetic oil (eg. BP Visco 7000) has a market price of more than 15 euros per litre. Nobody would pay that price for gasoline. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2005, 9:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-they-can-make-synthetic-oil-why-not-synthetic-gasoline/317532/6 "2005-08-18T09:45:54Z")
There’s also [thermal depolymerization](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermal_depolymerization), which can make things like turkey offal into synthetic crude oil, at a cost of about $80 a barrel—which, apparently, is of late (like, this month) _cheaper_ than natural oil. ---
**Author:** ![rbroome](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/838e76/32.png) [@rbroome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rbroome)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2005, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-they-can-make-synthetic-oil-why-not-synthetic-gasoline/317532/7 "2005-08-18T11:41:23Z")
> [@Ranchoth](#): > > There’s also [thermal depolymerization](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermal_depolymerization), which can make things like turkey offal into synthetic crude oil, at a cost of about $80 a barrel—which, apparently, is of late (like, this month) _cheaper_ than natural oil. Especially when you factor in the cost of disposing of the offal. There is a factory in Arkansas that opened last year IIRC that does just that. ---
**Author:** ![RandomLetters](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8edcca/32.png) [@RandomLetters](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandomLetters)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2005, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-they-can-make-synthetic-oil-why-not-synthetic-gasoline/317532/8 "2005-08-18T12:55:14Z")
The Germans and Japanese made gasoline out of coal, using the [Fischer-Tropsch process](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fischer-Tropsch_process) during WWII, after allied forces cut off their oil supply. The South Africans did this too, after they had their oil cut off due to apartheid related embargoes, and the South African company Sasol today makes most of that countries diesel fuel out of coal. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Slant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c57346/32.png) [@Mr.Slant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Slant)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2005, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-they-can-make-synthetic-oil-why-not-synthetic-gasoline/317532/9 "2005-08-18T13:52:13Z")
> [@Dog80](#): > > Premium quality, fully-synthetic oil (eg. BP Visco 7000) has a market price of more than 15 euros per litre. Nobody would pay that price for gasoline. For some reason, Europeans get raped when it comes to paying for synthetic oil. I can get Mobil 1 Extended Performance, a quality wholly synthetic oil, at my local Wal-Mart for under $6 per quart (under 4.87 Euros). Heck, for that matter, I can get Castrol Syntec (made by BP Corp) in any grade at my local AutoZone for about the same price.