| Gas Problems... Can You Help?
Posted: 5/15/2008 8:36:24 PM | ON PUMPING and BUYING GAS (read on, an interesting uprising)
(unknown date)
I don ' t know what you guys are paying for gasoline.... but here in California we are also paying higher, up to $3.50 per gallon. But my line of work is in petroleum for about 31 years now, so here are some tricks to get more of your money ' s worth for every gallon..
Here at the Kinder Morgan Pipeline where I work in San Jose , CA we deliver about 4 million gallons in a 24-hour period thru the pipeline. One day is diesel the next day is jet fuel, and gasoline, regular and premi um grades. We have 34-storage tanks here with a total capacity of 16,800,000 gallons.
Only buy or fill up your car or truck in the early morning when the ground temperature is still cold. Remember that all service stations have their storage tanks buried below ground. The colder the ground the more dense the gasoline, when it gets warmer gasoline expands, so buying in the afternoon or in the evening....your gallon is not exactly a gallon. In the petroleum business, the specific gravity and the temperature of the gasoline, diesel and jet fuel, ethanol and other petroleum products plays an important role.
A 1-degree rise in temperature is a big deal for this business. But the service stations do not have temperature compensation at the pumps.
When you ' re filling up do not squeeze the trigger of the nozzle to a fast mode. If you look you will see that the trigger has three (3)stages: low, middle, and high. In slow mode you should be pumping on low speed, thereby minimizing the vapors that are created while you are pumping. All hoses at the pump have a vapor return. If you are pumping on the fast rate, some other liquid that goes to your tank becomes vapor. Those vapors are being sucked up and back into the underground storage tank so you ' re getting less worth for your money.
One of the most important tips is to fill up when your gas tank is HALF FULL or HALF EMPTY. The reason for this is, the more gas you have in your tank the less air occupying its empty space. Gasoline evaporates faster than you can imagine. Gasoline storage tanks have an internal floating roof. This roof serves as zero clearance between the gas and the atmosphere, so it minimizes the evaporation. Unlike service stations, here where I work, every truck that we load is temperature compensated so that every gallon is actually the exact amount.
Another reminder, if there is a gasoline truck pumping into the storage tanks when you stop to buy gas, DO NOT fill up--most likely the gasoline is being stirred up as the gas is being delivered, and you might pick up some of the dirt that normally settles on the bottom. Hope this will help you get the most value for your money.
DO SHARE THESE TIPS WITH OTHERS!
WHERE TO BUY USA GAS, THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT TO KNOW. READ ON
Gas rationing in the 80 ' s worked even though we grumbled about it. It might even be good for us! The Saudis are boycotting American goods. We should return the favor.
An interesting thought is to boycott their GAS.
Every time you fill up the car, you can avoid putting more money into the coffers of Saudi Arabia .. Just buy from gas companies that don ' t import their oil from the Saudis.
Nothing is more frustrating than the feeling that every time I fill-up the tank, I am sending my money to people who are trying to kill me, my family, and my friends.
I thought it might be interesting for you to know which oil companies are the best to buy gas from and which major companies import Middle Eastern oil.
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
Citgo gas is from South America, from a Dictator who hates Americans. If you do the math at $30/barrel, these imports amount to over $18 BILLION! (oil is now $90 - $100 a ba rrel
Here are some large companies that do not import Middle Eastern oil:
Sunoco.................0 barrels
Conoco.................0 barrels
Sinclair.................0 barrels
BP/Phillips............0 barrels
Hess.....................0 barrels
ARC0....................0 barrels
If you go to Sunoco.com, you will get a list of the station locations near you.
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.
But to have an impact, we need to reach literally millions of gas buyers. It ' s really simple to do.
Now, don ' t wimp out at this point.... keep reading and I ' ll explain how simple it is to reach millions of people!!
I ' m sending this note to about thirty people. If each of you send it to at least ten more (30 x 10 = 300)...and those 300 send it to at least ten more (300 x 10 = 3,000) .. and so on, by the time the message reaches the sixth generation of people, we will have reached over THREE MILLION consumers !!!!!!! If those three million get excited and pass this on to ten friends each, then 30 million people will have been contacted!
If it goes one level further, you guessed it ..... THREE HUNDRED MILLION PEOPLE!!!
(from the LucysRicky... I'm going to try it, buy from U.S. producers and I'm sharing this with everyone I know. What do you all think?) | |
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| Gas Problems... Can You Help?
Posted: 5/15/2008 8:49:32 PM | 1 Gallon = 3.79 litres....
Our gas is $1.30 a litre....that is $4.92 cents a gallon.....
Welcome to Canada...
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| Gas Problems... Can You Help?
Posted: 5/15/2008 10:15:09 PM | | The OP contains many errors or irrelevancies, not the least of which is, that the ground temperature fluctuation at storage tank depth is insufficient to introduce substantial error. There is no vehicle filler vapour recovery in BC. There is no "air" in a "gastank." The tank is always full of gasoline, some as vapour, some as liquid. I could go on, but i'm sure you get the point: Free advice is usually worth its price. | |
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| Gas Problems... Can You Help?
Posted: 5/15/2008 10:40:43 PM | Wonder why it is oil that is drilled, refined, and delivered right here in the US cost the same as the oil from overseas?? I would think domestic gas would be cheaper. As of today here in IL we are at $3.95.
As for getting more miles per gallon, I bought a scooter. 60+mpg | |
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| Gas Problems... Can You Help?
Posted: 5/16/2008 4:27:04 AM |
Our gas is $1.30 a litre....that is $4.92 cents a gallon.....
Welcome to Canada...
Our gas (or rather petrol ;)) starts at $1.30/litre, that's in Brisbane. And it only gets dearer the further south or west you go. And if you're fortunate enough to be anywhere near Alice Springs, you'll more than likely be paying around $2/litre.
Welcome to Australia... | |
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| Gas Problems... Can You Help?
Posted: 5/16/2008 6:38:13 AM | I used to work at a gas station...and saw so many errors in the Ops posting. The temperature variance is negligible with the underground tanks. BP (British Petroleum) does import oil from the middle east. Domestic oil can be used exclusively, but many of the reserves are not being developed for environmental reasons. Canada could be independant. Fuel could be sold at far below world market prices. Oil companies would lose a lot of profit (certainly not all) and they are ones that actually own the oil reserves...not the Canadian public. Natives tried to claim it as theirs...that didn't work out well. The big losers would be the gov't...various taxes levied on fuel make up a hefty part of the total price for a liter of gas. How could they replace the loss of income if they reduced pricing? Not to mention the huge bobble in world economics if a large producer of fuel decided that their needs were paramount and came before profits!
As it stands, many countries are already screaming about food shortages because everyone grows some bio-crop to make fuel.
Bring back horses.
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| Gas Problems... Can You Help?
Posted: 5/16/2008 10:55:34 PM | | Bring back horses? What ? The cost of a horse is so expensive the feeding & shelter & shoes & vet care cost more a year than gas, even at these rip off prices. not to mention the manure! imagine if all the cars were horses.. sheesh talk about pollution. the freeways & hiways laden with piles o' turds..eeeww.. I think raising fuel standards drastically is the more obvious & realistic answer. | |
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| Gas Problems... Can You Help?
Posted: 5/18/2008 12:01:46 PM | Hey, thanks for the recommendations and information. I was happy to read about two things I already do (without knowing how they benefit my purse)....fill up at no less than half a tank, and stopping to buy gas in the morning. Next step is to fill up the tank at the slower flow speed.
I don't have much choice in gas stations (we have only a few here on my side of the island.) We are paying $3.97 per gallon right now. YIKES! | |
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| Gas Problems... Can You Help?
Posted: 5/18/2008 6:08:30 PM | Hybrids or small fuel efficient cars is the way to go. The higher the gas prices go the more I like my Toyota Yaris!
There are other, more realistic ways to reduce gas useage:
1. Plan your errands in a fuel efficient manner to avoid back tracking
2. Find shortcuts or alternate routes that reduce the number of traffic lights you encounter. Traffic lights are a big gas waster, especially when no one is coming the other way!!
3. Use the highway instead of back roads when possible. Cars are most fuel efficient at moderate highway speeds, and also because highway driving does not have the fuel-burning stops and starts found in city driving.
Just a couple of ideas. I would be interested to see what others are doing to save on gas. I don't bother with dumb forward requests, 99% of which are hoaxes anyway (ie. computer virus stuff and the like). | |
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| Gas Problems... Can You Help?
Posted: 5/18/2008 9:17:34 PM | When I bought my Prius I became active in several Prius internet forums, and learned an incredible amount about fuel efficient driving. Ultimately, five of us pooled our techniques and set out to see how far we could go on a single tank of gas if we picked a weekend with optimal conditions (hot and humid) and utilized every trick we could muster. The result was a 1400 mile odyssey, averaging 110 mpg, all driven back and forth on a 15 stretch of four lane with a dozen traffic lights near Pittsburgh. Google "Prius Marathon" if you are interested.
Some of the techniques we used were Prius specific, as there are things you can do with a car that shuts down its gas engine when coasting or stopped that don't apply to normal cars. If any Prius drivers out there are interested, I've compiled a document detailing all our techniques that I'd be glad to share. Just slip me a message with your email address and I'll pass it along.
Three strategies I've shared in other threads here will work for any vehicle.
1) Inflate your tires to the maximum pressure on the sidewall, NOT whatever your owner's manual advises. The only downside is a slightly stiffer ride. Handling, braking, tire longevity, and mpg will all improve.
2) Slow down! Air resistance increases exponentially with a linear increase in velocity. If you can discipline yourself to allow a few extra minutes for a trip, it will pay off at the pump.
3) Minimize the need to brake. Every time you hit the brakes you're wasting momentum you consumed gas to create. Take your foot off the gas well in advance of curves, stop signs, traffic lights, etc....
And finally, if you're stuck driving a gas guzzler, don't just resign yourself to settling for whatever mpg you currently get. You actually have a greater opportunity to save money than I do, compared to whatever mpg we'd each get by driving without utilizing the above techniques. That may sound counterintuitive, but if we assume a five percent improvement in fuel economy, for example, since guzzlers use a lot more gas, five percent of that number will be a greater total savings.
Good luck to all,
Dave | |
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