A nice BMW dealership in Mo. gave me this website to locate higher quality gasoline retailers. I thought I would pass it along. It's www.toptiergas.com
After finding a retailer near me, I've been buying gas from them and it really has made a difference in my MINI. I'm getting about 3 to 4 miles to the gal. more. Hopes this helps others out.

 

Do a search to get a selection of threads about the pluses and negatives of the toptiergas concept.

The Cliff Notes version is that TopTier relates to detergent quality of the gas and not the octane rating. 91 octane Top Tier compliant gas will have the same detergent levels as 93 octane Top Tier compliant gas.

 

I had never seen this site before but it looks like top tier is the one selling the cleaning additive.

I found this from car and driver:

http://www.caranddriver.com/article....&page_number=1


Here is the list of top tier:
QuikTrip
Chevron
Conoco
Phillips
76
Shell
Entec Stations
MFA Oil Company
Kwik Trip/Kwik Star
The Somerset Refinery, Inc.
Chevron-Canada
Aloha Petroleum - I want to go to this station!
Tri-Par Oil Company
Shell-Canada

Looks like shell and chevron for me!

 

Funny thing is that alot of the top tier gasoline is made from companies that import alot of middle eastern oil.
Just another thing to ponder when getting gas.

 

When I was at Uni in Hawaii, this is where I would fill up

They were usually the cheapest too - well the one near me on the Big Island was

 

TopTierGas.com is something along the lines of a trade association that has developed a standard for detergent content. It is up to the participating distributors to add the actual detergent to their product. TopTierGas.com does not sell detergent additive.

 

The middle east is where approx. half of the oil is located. Location is just an unfortunate reality.

 

Just about ALL gas companies use Middle Eastern oil. The point is, you're driving a MINI that gets excellent gas mileage compared to everything else on the road nowadays, and no matter what you do you're still going to have to feed your MINI gasoline. There's not much you can do about it, and the fact that you're driving a MINI is plenty help already.

 

I agree, i always buy my gas that has been 'made' in northamerica (ie, Petro-Canada). I think Sunoco is from northamerica plus they add ethanol to their grades (home grown corn)

 

Just because a gas company is on that list doesn't mean you're guaranteed good gas. I got gas from our local Shell twice, and ended up with water in the tank both times. A few months later the tanks were dug up and replaced, but it's now a Citgo, and it's where I buy most of my gas because it's usually 2-3 cents cheaper than the neighboring Mobil or BP stations (neither of which are on that list either).

 

How do you know the gas is refined from non-middle east stock? Absent a certification from the refiner (and the refiner is not necessarily the distributor), there is NO way to tell. And even with a certification from the refiner, that is still no guarantee of getting non-middle eastern product - most refiners dump their output into pipelines for transport to distributors. Once the gas goes into a pipeline, there is no way to tell product from refiner A vs. refiner B.

The ethanol addition is to replace MTBE (Methyl Tert Butyl Ether) as an oxygenate in the gasoline (for emission control/reduction). It is not being put in to reduce reliance on petroleum, unless you go with E-85. Our MINIs can't run E-85, so replacing petroleum with a renewable fuel is a non-starter.

 

It's funny that Chevron is on the list but not Texaco. Especially considering that they're the same company. Both with Techron. I always fill up at Chevron/Texaco.

 

You have found an inconsistency in the list. As long as the gas is distributed by the parent (Chevron in your example of Chevron/Texaco), you will get the TopTierGas conformity.

 

These companies import Middle Eastern oil:
Shell............................ 205,742,000 barrels
Chevron/Texaco......... 144,332,000 barrels
Exxon /Mobil............... 130,082,000 barrels
Marathon/Speedway... 117,740,000 barrels
Amoco...........................62,231,000 barrels
If you do the math at $30/barrel, these imports amount to
over $18 BILLION! (oil is now $55-$60 a barrel
Here are some large companies thatdo not import Middle Eastern oil
Citgo.....................0 barrels
Sunoco..................0 barrels
Conoco.................0 barrels
Union 76 &Phillips 66 Sinclair.................0 barrels
BP/Phillips............0 barrels
Hess......................0 barrels
ARC0....................0 barrels
All of this information is available from the Department of Energy]
and each is required to state where they get their oil and how much they are importing.

 

Okay, fine. You made the point about the refiner not using petroleum feedstock from the middle east.

Now, how are you going to show how a BP distributor (that does not physically get its gasoline from a refinery that does not use petroleum feedstock from the middle east) can guarantee that their gasoline does not come from middle east-sourced feedstock? The moment the gasoline goes into a pipeline, it is chemically indistinguishable from refiner A vs. B.

 

http://www.citgo.com/AboutCITGO.jspU.S. Government

Venezuelan government is sole owner of Citgo Oil company

Venezuela Dictator Hugo Chavez has vowed to bring down the U.S. government. Chavez, president of Venezuela, "Enough of imperialist aggression; we must tell the world: down with the U.S. empire. We have to bury imperialism this century."

The guest on his television program, beamed across Venezuela, was Cindy Sheehan, the antiwar activist. Also, Chavez recently had as his guest Harry Belafonte, who called President Bush "the greatest terrorist in the world."

Chavez is pushing a socialist (Marxist) revolution and has a close alliance with Cuban dictator Fidel Castro.

Regardless of your feelings about the war in Iraq, the issue here is that we have a socialist dictator vowing to bring down the government of the U.S., and he is using our money to achieve his goal!

The Venezuelan government, run by dictator Chavez, is the solegas company.Sales of products at Citgo stations send money back to Chavez to help him in his vow to bring down our government.

Take Action

Please decide that you will NOT be shopping at a Citgo station. Why should U.S. citizens who love freedom be financing a dictator who has vowed to take down our government

 

The cited info is wrong anyway.

http://www.snopes.com/politics/gasoline/saudigas.asp

All of the companies he mentioned still occasionally get oil from the middle east.

@Aquastar: Let's not turn this into a political debate, ok?

 

You are right but never buy at CITGO since a profits go to some one who HATES us.


Art

 

I was hoping to avoid it (turning the thread into a political debate).

I am still waiting to learn how one can avoid buying gasoline that was sourced from anywhere you don't want to buy from (middle east, venezuela, or wherever). Cause the moment the gas goes into the pipeline, it is mixed in a giant blender.

 

I've always gotten more miles out of a tank of Chevron than Shell...that's all I've ever used in my MINI. It's hard to verify given slight differences in driving conditions, but it sure seems so.

 

Yes, and the middle east just loves us so much.

Citgo is still headquartered in the US and employes a fair number of Americans, not to mention all the American-owned Citgo stations across the US. Unfortunately, with the way the demand for gas is right now, there's always someone to buy, even if someone else is boycotting.

The people who would suffer the most from a boycott would be the American Citgo station owners, not anyone in Venezuela. But if you don't want to buy Citgo gas, that's your choice.

 

And even if you did choose to not buy from Citgo stations (and thereby screwed the U.S. employees of Citgo), you still probably would be buying Citgo gas because the Citgo refinery is pumping Citgo gas into the pipeline system.... So boycotting Citgo is not a practical action unless you just want to punish the people who work for Citgo in the U.S.

 

Well since I try to buy either Chevron or Shell I am not intentionally boygotting Citgo.


Art

 

Thanks for the info.
I feel that the more information one can get the better.