Mad About Cars

Most of our gasoline is made from crude oil, and formed from the remains of plants and animals that lived hundreds of millions of years ago. These remains were actually covered with layers of sediment over time. With extreme pressure, and high temperatures over millions of years, these remains became the mix of liquid hydrocarbons which is an organic chemical compound of hydrogen and carbon, and we call it crude oil. Refineries break down these hydrocarbons into many different products. These “refined products” include substances such as gasoline, diesel fuel, heating oil, jet fuel, liquefied petroleum gases, residual fuel oil, and many other products.

After crude oil is refined into gasoline and other petroleum products, they must be distributed to the consumers. The majority of gasoline is shipped first by pipeline to storage terminals near consuming areas and then loaded into trucks for delivery to individual gas stations. Gasoline and other products are sent through shared pipelines in “batches.” Since these are not physically separated in the pipeline, some mixing or “commingling” of products occurs.

This means that the quality of the gasoline and other products must be tested as they enter and leave the pipeline to make sure they meet appropriate specifications. Whenever the product fails to meet local, State, or Federal product specifications, it must be removed and trucked back to a refinery for further processing.

After shipment through the pipeline, gasoline is typically held in bulk storage terminals that often service many companies. At these terminals, the gasoline is loaded into tanker trucks destined for various retail gas stations. The tanks in these trucks, which can typically hold up to 10,000 gallons, usually have several compartments, enabling them to transport the different grades of gasoline or petroleum products. The truck tank is where the special additive packages of gasoline retailers get blended into the gasoline to differentiate one blend from another. In some areas, ethanol may be “splash blended” in the tanker to meet environmental requirements. When the tanker truck reaches a gas station, the truck operator unloads each grade of gasoline into the appropriate underground tanks at the station, thus explaining how our fuel is couriered from the origional source, right to our doorstep!

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