Something I Didn’t Know

Yes, yes, OK, there’s a long list of things I didn’t and don’t know but at least I do now know this:

This left refiners with a lot of stock that they could only shift by
keeping prices down, Mr Holloway said. In any case, the market dynamics
of petrol are very different to crude. Once the raw material is boiled
down and turned into petrol, this end product has a limited shelf life.
Petrol is difficult to store, and goes off after a time. It can be
re-processed, but this is an expensive procedure.

Petrol has a shelf life? Who knew?

Another nice point made by Dean Baker. Yes, the oil price is rising in $. But the dollar is falling against other currencies. The price in € and £ isn’t rising as fast at all.

In

5 responses

  1. Petrol can go off in less than a month. Ask any motorcyclist who parks up for the winter and they will tell you of the pain of old fuel.
    Petrol has an annoying habit of soaking up water which is why a car which hasn’t been run in a month is so difficult to start, and when it does, throws out a load of white smoke from the exhaust!

  2. Does diesel fuel for cars also have a limited shelf-life?
    Did the limited shelf-life for petrol also apply to the old leaded petrol?

  3. Ian Bennett Avatar
    Ian Bennett

    Yes, though to a lesser extent.
    Yes.

  4. Andrew Duffin Avatar
    Andrew Duffin

    It’s true.
    Yachstmen know this too, because one thing you really don’t want to do is leave the petrol in the outboard over the winter.
    Come Spring, you’ll be rowing…

Leave a Reply

Discover more from Tim Worstall

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading