The fuel journey

1. Exploration and development

• The journey begins with the exploration for crude oil in North America as well as far away places like the North Sea
• Next, we use rigs to drill for oil
• The oil is then delivered via pipelines, and railways to refineries for processing

2. Refining oil into fuel and other products

Refining is the process by which crude oil is turned into everyday products.

At refineries:

• Crude oil is refined into gasoline, diesel, propane and other petroleum products such as feedstocks, which are used to make plastics found in vehicles, plasma TVs and more
• Ethanol is blended into the gasoline. This is done to boost the octane level to meet the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requirements for oxygenated (smog reducing) fuels. Gasoline with 10% ethanol is approved for use by all automotive vehicle manufacturers in the U.S.
• ExxonMobil conducts tests to verify that the fuel meets or exceeds engine builder and industry specifications

3. Formulating high quality Exxon- and Mobil-branded fuel

From the refinery, gasoline and diesel fuels are transported via pipelines, ships and railways to terminals. It is at the terminals that ExxonMobil adds detergents and additives to formulate our own unique, high quality blends.

• Detergents are added to gasoline to help clean fuel injectors, intake valves and other engine parts*
• Exxon- and Mobil-branded gasoline contains significantly more detergents than the minimum quantity required by the EPA and has passed other performance tests, resulting in it being certified
• Our gasolines are available in three grades

4. Getting the fuel to your tank

Once the fuels are mixed to ExxonMobil’s exacting standards, they are loaded into trucks for delivery to individual stations all across the country.

• The trucks have different compartments to keep the three gasoline grades and diesel fuel separate
• At the gas station, delivery drivers and retailers check the gasoline and diesel fuels once more to ensure that our high standards are maintained
• The fuels are pumped from the separate truck compartments through segregated pipes into designated holding tanks
• When you select a gas grade at the pump, the gas is drawn from the corresponding tank