Why is ARCO gas usually cheaper than the others? quality?
 

For some reason, ARCO gas always seems to be 10-20 cents cheaper than other gas stations, even when they are in the exact same intersection. I have heard rumors throughout my life that is is due to possible lower quality of gas in ARCO.

I also know two people that refuse to use ARCO gas because they believe it's of lower quality. What's interesting is that these two people are from vastly different ends of the automotive spectrum. One drives a 4x4 198x ford ranger and the other is a subaru wrx modder.

Does anyone have any concrete knowledge why ARCO gas seems to have lower prices than their competitors?

In my area it's about a 5 cent difference. I remember 5-15 cents in the San Jose area. It could just be based on cost. I've noticed the appearance of Arco stations and workers is usually a notch below that of their major competitors. As for corporate efficiency, I have no idea.

The gas is the same. Between Chevron, 76, Arco, etc, it comes from the same regional terminals. You get different additive packages with a few (i.e. "Techron") but the base fuel sent to each station comes from the same pipes.

The difference in quality has more to do with each station. If their equipment maintainenance and processes are up to snuff, and if the employees stick to them under stress, the gas should be fine. If you draw from a tank that was just filled in the last hour (or is still being filled - gak) there's a much higher chance you'll pick up water or other contaminants. If you see a tanker, try the next station. Then are the stations that cut premium or mid-grade to boost profits. :(

If quality problems were restricted to one or another brand then the choice would be easy, but I've purchased bad gas from every brand over the years. (usually water contamination) and have read about violations from every brand name and independents (R.I.P.).

After firing up the ol' Google search, I found a couple possible reasons.

The Arco website claims that they are a "high-volume, low-cost producer" and sell approx. twice as much gas per station as other companies. A good reason, but there is more...

Answers.com suggests that Arco reduces prices reducing "frills." Among which include not accepting credit cards at their stations and adding a $0.35 fee for debit card use.

As cyrnel said... gas is gas. Different straw, same cup.

Do they use Ethanol
I've noticed stations around here
charge less if they add 10% Ethanol
My truck runs better on it
my buick runs worse.

they do use ethanol in the gas

There's a gas station here that is cheaper by a few cents but it seems as though they water their gas down.

I just don't get the mileage I usually get and should be getting with their gas.

Maybe it's the same.

doesn't arco always make you use either cash or debit? i think that contributes.

also when you use debit, there is an extra $.45 charge, so it pretty much evens out

Thats like Pioneer, here in Ontario, but Pioneer's gas isn't crap!

I always heard it was watered down...but never found any proof. I have just been going to costco for the past few years. It is cheaper than ARCO ALWAYS! and I don't have to worry about them "watering" down the gas...

I know this answer for a fact: Arco gas is cheap for exactly the reason Hambone and Matt_Freeman said, just like Costco's gas. They don't let you use credit cards to pay for it, generally speaking, so every time you would normally cause them to pay for the credit transaction, they save some money. This money obviously adds up, so they give a small percentage of that back to the consumers by setting the gas price lower.

Hmm i read a extensive article that tested the different premium gasolines and they found that arco gas contained quite a bit more unwanted particles and was generally not as clean as say Chevron. I will look forit.

ARCO takes raw crude from overseas and offshore and turns it into petrol (as well as manyother petroleum products). Some of this petrol is sold retail. Some if it is sold wholesale to other petrol companies.

If you ever find yourself in a sushi restaurant in Rosemont, CA, facing an intersection with four different brands of gasoline being sold at each corner for four different prices... it is mildly amusing when the same ARCO tanker stops at each one in turn to deliver gas.

Gasoline delivery is a pretty infrequent occurance, but the only brand of gasoline that I ever saw consistently delivered in same-branded tankers was British Petroleum. Otherwise it was almost always the (or one of the) big local producers/distributors (Heiss, Amoco, ARCO, etc.).

My theory? It's cheaper because of vertical integration... there's no middle-men marking it up for ARCO stations.

Spot buying.


The "name brand" stations like BP/Amoco, Mobil, and Shell all own and operate their own oil field, refineries, and every bit of equipment from the time the oil comes from the ground up until it gets put into your tank.

Companies like ARCO, Clark, Marathon, and others buy gas on the spot market. It might come from any number of refineries or oil fields. They basically play the market. Most of the time they can sell for cheaper, albeit not usually as high of quality as the name brand stations. However, you will notice that on the occasions that gas prices shoot through the roof, sometimes the places like ARCO are actually more expensive 2-5 days later. It's again because they are playing the spot market. ;)

Borla and I have said almost the exact opposite things on this subject.

While I have bascally no idea how ARCO is actually operated, I will say this...
Look at the copyright notice at the bottom of the ARCO website.
BP West Coast Products LLC runs one of the largest refineries in California.