BP's Brands. Here's who to avoid:

[onehandle]

BP, duh.


ARAL


ARCO


Castrol


am/pm


Wild Bean Cafe

http://www.bp.com/extendedsectiongenericarticle.do?categoryId=9&contentId=7046348

[kirby]

1. I notice...

just as many people patronizing my local BP station now as before. Go figure.

[Cant trust em]

3. wrong spot.

[louis-t]

4. The ones by me are noticably less busy.

Except the one with the McDonald's in the same building. I had to meet someone there today and she was late. I got madder by the second looking at the sign.

[proud2BlibKansan]

15. The one I drive by every day is dead

No customers at all. And it's right off an interstate highway. Usually very busy.

[tavalon]

17. An enterprising activist, heretofore unmentioned

might make stickers to place on the pump area reminding the patrons of the horror that has been wrought by the company from which they are buying their gas. Of course that is petty vandalism, so I could never advocate that................

Edited to add: some people here at DU have made some very useful images

[BelgianMadCow]

2. Thanks a LOT. Exactly what I was wondering today. Rec'd

We have ARAL over here - but very few, ESSO and Shell are the big ones here - in terms of gas stations.


But BP makes a lot of it's money in production and refining - not distributing.

So we also need to know who they sell ther refined product to - which probably is much harder to track.

:thumbsup:

[CreekDog]

29. they usually sell to everybody

and stations, if not corporate, buy from anybody.

[Cant trust em]

5. Arco. Shit. They have the cheapest gas. nt

[still_one]

6. If you are near a Costco, it should be comparable or better /nt

[Cant trust em]

7. I don't have a Costco membership.

I might next year though. My parents do the Costco gas all the time.

[intheflow]

9. I've lived in the Northeast, the Gulf Coast, and in the Southwest.

I have never seen a Costco gas station!

[blm]

11. They're at Costco stores

.

[intheflow]

13. Duh!

Even though I've never seen a gas station at a Costco, even though I've seen Costcos across the country, I did figure out the ones you're referring to are at Costco stores. :eyes:

[Melissa G]

46. no gas at my Costco in Austin n/t

[blm]

48. hmm...maybe Texas is blocking them there?

.

[Statistical]

16. Where do you think Costco gets gas from?

Those costco wells & refineries in the Gulf?
Transported by Costo tankers from Costcorabia?

[Raster]

24. Do you know for a fact that Costco buys gas from BP?

[Statistical]

38. No Costco (and all independents) but from whoever has the cheapest gas.

It might be Exxon on qtr, BP the next, Hess the third qtr.

The larger independents also tend to also make a contract directly with refinery. The gasoline is a simply a blend of whatever oil the refinery has access to.

No if you imagine a "boycott" of BP really works and reduces volume of BP gasoline sold at BP stations which major oil company do you think will have the largest excess supply?

BP right? Obviously buying less at BP station means you ARE BUYING MORE somewhere else.
MORE Exxon gasoline sold = less excess supply available to independents
LESS BP gasoline sold = more excess supply available to independents

Hence BP ends up with the most excess supply and undercuts Exxon (who seems supply constrained due to higher sales) and the independents buy from BP. That is what independents do. That is why they aren't "branded". They buy the gasoline that is the cheapest.

[eShirl]

27. That's a good question. Does anyone know?

[CreekDog]

31. That's self-defeating and here's why

the only way to assure you aren't buying a BP refined or BP sourced (from BP oil) is to buy from one of their competitors own stations. and independent might buy from BP, but rarely just from BP. a corporate owned competitor will always be buying from Chevron or whatever --who are probably just as evil.

if you want to do something good, buy from the independents and see if they'll boycott BP (though they probably can't boycott their oil).

[CreekDog]

30. costco isn't worth the hassle

the lines and the extra distance easily burn more than i save by going there.

i never understand why people travel *any* distance to save 10 cents a gallon.

[tavalon]

18. Not really

In the short term, yeah, but in the long term, their parent company has destroyed an ocean.

[CreekDog]

28. how much does that actually save you? a buck a tank?

every billion in damage from that oil spill costs you $3.

think they are at 1 billion yet?

think we will actually get paid for all the damage?

cheap can be the most expensive of all.

[onestepforward]

8. Thank you! K&R

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

10. Hmmm. One of these brands actually sees my money every now and then.

Correction: used to see.

[Common Sense Party]

12. They're not even around here. I may have seen some of the am/pm in Denver.

[K8-EEE]

14. I hate the 45 cent "convenience fee" for using an ATM card at ARCO

Which they tell you not to do anyhow....but not everybody walks around with $40 in cash and they don't take credit cards either.

I just don't know why it should cost anything to pay with an ATM card, when it doesn't at grocery stores or anywhere else. I the gas is 4 cents cheaper per gallon but you pay 45 cents fee purchasing 10 gallons then the "expensive" gas is cheaper.

[Cant trust em]

21. If I ever have enough cash, I pay in cash.

Fuck that fee. That drives me totally nuts.

[CreekDog]

33. I hate the fee but I really don't care, honestly

Anybody who makes decisions about 45 cents on things that happen every week or two is wasting valuable time.

Sorry.

[Cant trust em]

43. Such valuable time wasted! Putting a piece of paper in, instead of swiping a card!

It really is quite a burden.

I bet you love paying to check bags on airplanes too.

[CreekDog]

45. Hey, Can't trust you

I said "I hate the fee".

and you say I must "love paying" baggage check fees.

[Cant trust em]

47. You hate the fee, but willing to pay it...

and poke fun at those who are annoyed by it to the point of changing their behavior.

Yeah, I responded snarkily about something trivial. But hey, that’s DU, right?

I come here to take on truly serious debates.

:rofl:

[CreekDog]

32. that's how they keep their prices a little lower

i get gas at a Valero. the Arco is across the street and usually 3-5 cents cheaper. The 45 cent fee on Arco's gas means I'm paying about the same.

[haele]

44. It's because it's another way to get money -

The various debt card systems (Star, Plus, and whatever other little symbol that's on the back of your card) charges a percentage of a penny on each transaction. A store that has a lot of overhead and little mark-up (most mom and pop convienience stores) will usually charge 5 - 25 cents for debt card purchases under a certain amount to cover that cost.
I guess since Arco franchises most of their gas stations, it's their way of compensating the franchise owner who's forced to buy their gas and sell it at their price as well as running his or her store by their branding rules. One of my rent-mates was a night manager of an AM/PM Arco franchise; she had all sorts of horror stories on what hoops ARCO used to run the owner through.

Haele

[Maru Kitteh]

19. I think I don't want to even ask what's in their "wild beans"

[donheld]

20. None of those are in the Denver Area.

[Touchdown]

36. BP is on Colorado and Colfax.

...it conveniently has a Wild Beans inside. Kille two birds by driving by one stone!

[donheld]

51. BP is not in the denver area

It used to be BP. Now it's Conoco. There's a conoco station on both the northeast and northwest corners.

[haele]

22. Check to see who owns your local Thrifty Gas Station -

A good half of them were bought out by Arco.
Also, a lot of Mom and Pop stations - or small local stations - buy their gasoline service by the quarter to try to get the cheapest price. So the local Pump and Jump might get their gas from Shell in the Winter, BP in the Spring, Citgo in the Summer, and Exxon in the Fall - and you'd never know.

Haele

[garybeck]

23. facebook has a good page "Boycott BP" n/t

[gleaner]

25. Thank you. I will use this well. Two I didn't know until now...

So much for them when I go to spend money.:argh:

[sendero]

26. Since the Exxon Valdez.....

.... I have bought gas at Exxon stations about twice, both in situations where I had no choice and both times only a couple gallons to get me by.

I will add all of these establishments to my boycott list. Not that I've noticed any BP or Arco stations around here.

[CreekDog]

34. They're Valero now

:rofl:

ever wonder why?

[sendero]

49. Valero is Exxon?

????

[NoPasaran]

35. The only way to be sure you're not supporting some ocean-raping corporation

Is to go Old School and run your jalopy on good ol' whale oil.

[madokie]

37. Well well

I put castrol synthetic oil in our f150 when we bought it new in '98 and it has 130,000 miles on it now. Guess I'll be changing oil this weekend whether it's time too or not.

Whats a good synthetic oil I could use instead???
TIA

[Statistical]

39. Mobil 1 of course.

Then again Mobil is owned by Exxon....

I will still use Mobil 1. The best oil I have ever used. Change it twice a year with a quality filter. works great and cuts don't on volume of used oil.

[madokie]

40. I have mobil 1 in everything I own except for the f150

I started using mobil 1 when it first hit the scene back in the early/mid 70's. I put it in everything from lawn mowers to my welder. I also feel bad about the ties with exxon.

[Statistical]

41. I weigh both sides and feel Mobil 1 is worth it.

Yeah it is made by Exxon - BOO. :(

On the other hand I trust it to go 6,000 miles between oil changes.

I buy the 5qt jugs of 5w20 or 0w20.

Less plastic (compared to single qt containers)
Less oil changes (I trust Mobil 1 to last 6,000+ miles)
Less fuel consumption (slightly from thinner oil)
Vehicle lasts longer (Honda engines + Mobil 1 can easily last 200,000 miles)

All in all a quadruple win for the environment.

[madokie]

42. I agree

Back when it first came out I did an experiment using mobil 1, (back before they put a weight rating on it btw,) alone with trop-artic 10w30, 10w40 and straight 30 weight. I put the same amount of each different oils in baby food jars and put them in the freezer for a couple days so they'd all be the same low temperature. and timed how long it too for the oils to pass through a straw. Then I raised the temperature of the oils using boiling water for the other end of the spectrum, doing the same thing timing the time it took for them to pass through the same straw. The mobil 1 was not much thicker in comparison at freezer temperatures than it was at boiling water temperature where the other three were in a totally different ball park altogether. I still have my figures of this experiment albeit it may take some time in locating it. I used a funnel connected to a straw and a stop watch to compare the viscosities with. I was blown away with how much the petroleum oils changed in viscosity between freezer temps and boiling water temps, mobile 1 not so much. Needless to say I'm a synthetic oil user ever since.

At cold temperatures the 10w30, 10w40 or the straight weight 30 were all about the same viscosity and at the other end too which surprised me. There were differences but they were small, hardly enough to imply one is better than the other by any measurable difference as the oil companies do.

[Scurrilous]

50. Kick

:kick:

[Xicano]

52. I Fuel Up at Thrifty Gas Stations or Citgo

I live in So-Cal..