no idea but it does not effect me as I only ever put £30 worth of fuel in at a time.

can anyone explain to me the difference between OPEC and a Cartel..

As they literally are a cartel it would be difficult!

I also seem to get better economy off branded diesel v supermarket.

theres very weasliy words used in terms of premium fuels and economy. It revolves around the addition of additives for cleaning – and whats being claimed is a clean engine will run more economically than a dirty one. But a tank of one won’t give you more MPG than a tank of the other.

My understanding was that the standard fuels are BS xxxx petroleum spirit / diesel and that just because you are filling up at a shell or BP filling station it is just as likely to be exactly the same fuel as you would get at the Tesco  next door. The difference is in the branded “special” fuels which I always understood to be the manufacturer specific ones.

What annoys me is that you are spending a big pile of cash when you fill up, the least the person behind the counter could do is exhibit a modecum of civility towards the customer..

But a tank of one won’t give you more MPG than a tank of the other.

Not so sure. Premium could have a higher cetane rating, which means it burns more completely so you should expect better economy. Given that premium diesel smells very distinctively like 2-EHN which is cetane improver I suspect that this is the case.

I rarely drive regular journeys under constant conditions so I can’t say for sure but premium appears to give slightly better economy but not enough to justify the cost increase in purely economic terms.

Not so sure. Premium could have a higher cetane rating, which means it burns more completely so you should expect better economy.

but thats not their claim

What annoys me is that you are spending a big pile of cash when you fill up, the least the person behind the counter could do is exhibit a modecum of civility towards the customer..

Maybe it’s you? I’ve never had anything other than a positive interaction.

I don’t know if it’s still the case but the additives in the branded fuels were unique to the brands, ie, shell additive only went to shell. Supermarket fuel had no additive, or their own.

Anyway, round here the shell site is the same price as the supermarket, I collect the points too. Another 3 years I will probably get a baseball cap..

Another 3 years I will probably get a baseball cap..

Another 3 points and you’ll have a 2 year ban 🙂

I work in the oil industry and the premium stuff (Diesel) is better (I certainly wouldn’t run a diesel on just super market stuff) it is reckoned that the normal stuff is better than the supermarket stuff but that is only down to dosing ratios at the road loading (tanker) terminal.