Sunoco Rolls Out Ethanol Blends in Mid-America Market
Sunoco
Mid-America, a business unit of Sun Oil Company, has completed the roll-out of
ten volume percent ethanol blends in virtually all of the retail gasoline
stations in its five-state market region.
The move will allow the company
to produce its 94 octane premium-grade gasoline at a lower cost and with less
complexity at the refinery and through the distribution system, according to
Sunoco. This will allow for more rapid expansion in the region and will affect
more than 750 retail gasoline stations.
The driving forces behind the
move to ethanol were refinery complexity and a desire to expand the company's
business, said John McCook, director of marketing for Sunoco Mid-
America.
"The 94-octane premium is difficult to produce at the refinery
and the logistics of transporting it are very difficult," he said. "By using
ethanol, we ae able to produce a 93-octane gasoline in our Toledo refinery and
blend it with ethanol at the terminal to reach 94 octane."
The ethanol
blends also will lessen the threat of shortages at the retail level. "With
ethanol, we can get 93 octane from another source and blend it up to 94," said
McCook.
This material is based upon work supported by the
U.S. Department of Agriculture under agreement No. 43-3AES-5-80074. Any
opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this
publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the
views of the U.S. Department of
Agriculture.
