Valero Gas in CA

[TrevorS]

Any knowledge or experience with Valero gas and ethanol content in CA?

I ran regular Valero in CA and my vehicle felt like it had more horses compared to other brands of gas.

Any chance that it is lower in ethanol content than other brands in CA?

 

[Errtt]

Humm... I have a Valero nearby, as well as ARCO, 76, two Chevron's and two Shell's The Valero always has the least business of vehicle's gassing up as I drive by. Many times no vehicle getting gas. Seems business (gas and in store goods) is slow there.
I've never thought of trying Valero gas.

 

[slo town]

TrevorS:

CA gas often gets a bad rap. This is misinformation. CA gas is ultra-low sulphur just like Euro gas.

Also, CA gas generally has less ethanol in it than the other 49 states. See the attached. It says CA gas has just 5.7%, and in some areas none at all. I may be wrong, but I think most other states mandate 10% ethanol, thanks to the corn industry cartel.

Assuming these figures are correct, it's no wonder your car felt stronger on CA gas, especially of you bought from an area where ethanol wasn't blended in at all.

Scott

 

[slo town]

Ooops, the attached...

http://energyalmanac.ca.gov/gasoline/types_of_gasoline.html

 

[wemay]

One in my area. Has the best prices in town... Used the pump card swipe and noticed the price was much higher per gallon than on the street sign. So i went inside to advise and was promptly told, the price on the street sign is cash only, if you pay debit or credit, 10 cents more p/gallon. Never went back.

 

[morepwr]

I have run Valero in my car and truck and they run just fine on it. No different than any other brand and usually about .05 cheaper a gallon.

 

[TrevorS]

Originally Posted By: SLO_Town
TrevorS:

CA gas often gets a bad rap. This is misinformation. CA gas is ultra-low sulphur just like Euro gas.

Also, CA gas generally has less ethanol in it than the other 49 states. See the attached. It says CA gas has just 5.7%, and in some areas none at all. I may be wrong, but I think most other states mandate 10% ethanol, thanks to the corn industry cartel.

Assuming these figures are correct, it's no wonder your car felt stronger on CA gas, especially of you bought from an area where ethanol wasn't blended in at all.

Scott


Thanks for that info. That 5.7% is lower than the US average for sure.

 

[y_p_w]

Valero has several refineries in California. The one I know of is the Benecia refinery - formerly Tesoro and before that Exxon.

However, base fuel is a commodity in California. It's freely traded and which refinery actually produced the fuel is unclear. TiredTrucker could explain better how it's done, but apparently the one thing that determines fuel branding is that a particular additive package and concentration will be added to the tanker that is specified by the fuel marketer.

The one thing that seems to be understood is that Valero doesn't believe in detergent additive concentrations much higher than EPA (or local) requirements. I found some thread where someone received a response from Valero that they only have 120% of the EPA mandated level of detergent and that they feel high levels come with long-term issues. A Top Tier branded fuel is more like 250% and may even be higher.

 

[SLATRON]

Most gas stations here have different price for cash, 5-10 cents more credit.
Also, most stations have ethanol free premium, Fastrac, Sunoco, Indy stations etc.
The one Valero station here has cheaper gas by 5 cents than other stations, basically to get in the door, all the other stuff inside is crazy expensive.
I've never "felt" any difference from different gas types, placebo?

 

[y_p_w]

Originally Posted By: wemay
One in my area. Has the best prices in town... Used the pump card swipe and noticed the price was much higher per gallon than on the street sign. So i went inside to advise and was promptly told, the price on the street sign is cash only, if you pay debit or credit, 10 cents more p/gallon. Never went back.

Every place I've seen will clearly say "cash price" if they do that. I have seen a few where they show the credit price outside, but on the pump is a label that says you can go inside and get a 4 cent/gallon discount for cash.

The other thing is that credit and debit are the same price at most places. Arco on the West Coast is known for cheaper gas prices, and they only accept cash or debit unless the owner has made an exception (I knew one location that took credit). However, they also have a debit transaction fee that catches some people by surprise. Costco only take debit (no fee) or American Express for payment at the pump. I know of a few discounted supermarket gas stations where they have a cash/debit price 10 cents cheaper than their credit price. They only changed to this model after the state started going after them for a 3 cent/gallon discount using a rewards card. I remember I get get an incredible price AND pay with a credit card. This was really a loss leader to attract people to shop inside.

http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Safeway-ends-gas-discount-program-3770523.php

 

[Chris142]

Gas is highly regulated here. All gas with the exception of 3-4 stations have the same e10

 

[2oldtommy]

Valero is the largest refiner of motor fuels in the US. Their retail outlets are limited in number due to the fact they sell mostly to the brand names that no longer have own refineries. FWIW

Oldtommy

 

[y_p_w]

Originally Posted By: 2oldtommy
Valero is the largest refiner of motor fuels in the US. Their retail outlets are limited in number due to the fact they sell mostly to the brand names that no longer have own refineries. FWIW

Oldtommy

Not sure about that, although I do remember Valero radio ads claiming they were. The list I found is specially about crude processing output, but I was under the impression that the amount of fuel produced was generally proportional to crude intake. The following claims that ConocoPhillips is the largest, and ExxonMobil is second. Valero Energy is third.

http://petroleuminsights.blogspot.com/2011/07/top-20-largest-refining.html

 

[440Magnum]

Valero is one of the biggest gasoline refiners in the country, certainly in Texas (based in San Antonio with a big refinery in Corpus Christi). IIRC they are a pretty small percentage on the west coast. Just like ARCO and Unocal/76 are invisible most elsewhere.

I've never had an issue with their fuels, all the way back to the Diamond Shamrock days. I try to give them business... but then that's partly because an old high school friend is the CVP/Controller

 

[SrDriver]

My wife and I buy most of our fuel @ Sam's Club, Wal-Mart, and Shell.

We buy $100.00 gift cards at Shell and that avoids going into the store to pay before pumping.

We also buy prepaid gift cards for Sam's/Wal-Mart for fuel purchases. This protects your debit/credit cards too by buying fuel this way.

 

[CharBaby]

Originally Posted By: 440Magnum
Valero is one of the biggest gasoline refiners in the country, certainly in Texas (based in San Antonio with a big refinery in Corpus Christi). IIRC they are a pretty small percentage on the west coast. Just like ARCO and Unocal/76 are invisible most elsewhere.

I've never had an issue with their fuels, all the way back to the Diamond Shamrock days. I try to give them business... but then that's partly because an old high school friend is the CVP/Controller



Funny you mention this!
I was watching Modern Marvels on the History Channel and they did a segment on Refinerys. According to the History Channel segment, Valaro is the largest refiner of oil in the country.

Their story was taken in CA where they went through the refinery and all of the steps from beginning to end. A very interesting segment worth watching. I am sure I may have missed some things and may need to rewatch the segment.

 

[Durango]

I've tried Valero a couple times and found it to be pretty good gas as I seen no issues regarding it. In my area the price for Valero can be a little high (almost comparable to Top Tier) so usually I just buy ARCO.

In the past it appears that Valero gas stations have been oppping up all around the Los Angeles area but now seems to have plateaued.

I can't say anything about it's detergency...I just hope it has enough to handle deposits otherwise it's just better to buy a Top Tier version.

Durango

 

[440Magnum]

Valero only entered the CA market (under their own brand, anyway) in the year 2000. So its no surprise there was a surge then plateau.

I pay zero attention to "top tier" gasoline- I couldn't even tell you which brands pay to make the claim and which ones don't. Why pay more for what is nothing more than a licensing fee to use the words "top tier?" And in sneaking up on 1 million miles of driving dating back to the late 1970s, I've never had ONE fuel system deposit issue. Zero, zip, nada. I've pulled out 150k mile fuel injectors to change O-rings, and found the tips to be spotless.

 

[Ken2]

"Valero Energy Corporation, through its subsidiaries, is an international manufacturer and marketer of transportation fuels, other petrochemical products and power. Valero subsidiaries employ approximately 10,500 people, and assets include 16 petroleum refineries with a combined throughput capacity of approximately 3 million barrels per day, 10 ethanol plants with a combined production capacity of 1.2 billion gallons per year, and a 50-megawatt wind farm. More than 7,300 outlets carry the Valero, Diamond Shamrock, Shamrock and Beacon brands in the United States and the Caribbean; Ultramar in Canada; and Texaco in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Valero is a Fortune 500 company based in San Antonio."
http://www.valero.com/OurBusiness/pages/Home.aspx

 

[y_p_w]

Originally Posted By: 440Magnum
Valero is one of the biggest gasoline refiners in the country, certainly in Texas (based in San Antonio with a big refinery in Corpus Christi). IIRC they are a pretty small percentage on the west coast. Just like ARCO and Unocal/76 are invisible most elsewhere.

I've never had an issue with their fuels, all the way back to the Diamond Shamrock days. I try to give them business... but then that's partly because an old high school friend is the CVP/Controller


The 76 brand has been disassociated with the previous Union Oil of California for some time. They sold off their refining assets and fuel marketing to Tosco, which then got purchased by Phillips Petroleum, which then merged with Conoco. Unocal is now owned by Chevron, although they're primarily a natural gas company now. I remember the difficulty they had trying to sell themselves to the Chinese company Sinopec. Eventually the US government nixed the deal and Chevron swooped in.

And speaking of Chevron, apparently there are still a few "Standard" stations still around. Supposedly they have these stations around such that they can indicate that they are actively seeking to protect the brand name for trademark purposes. I saw this station in San Francisco just this past weekend:

Valero is actually has a pretty large presence in the San Francisco Bay Area. They position their brand as a premium brand, although they don't participate in Top Tier marketing and apparently they don't use a megadose of detergent additives (like BP used to market before participating in Top Tier). There's a Valero station near where I live, and it's across the street from a Shell station. Their prices mirror each other. I'm surprised when one station has a different price. They also moved to a cash/credit price difference almost exactly the same time.