OIL IS FUNGIBLE PEOPLE. There is no such thing as "BP oil" or "Exxon oil" [View All]

Likely I will get flamed into oblivion for breaking some peoples fantasy but here goes.

Oil is oil. There aren't special BP oil pipes or Exxon oil pipes.

All the oil in the US from import super tankers, on shore oil wells, and off shore oil wells flows into the same network.

The same pipes, storage tanks, and transport network handles all the oil. Imagine how expensive and silly it would be to have an "Exxon oil" pipe going exact same place as a "BP oil" pipe. That is why there isn't.

Oil producers are simply paid for the oil they contribute to the network. This works similarly to a wind farm and nuclear reactor on same power grid. Each gets paid for the power they provide however once that happens all power is "mixed" it is not possible to say where the wind power goes and where nuclear power goes.

So where does gasoline come from?

The oil flows to refineries which crack the oil into gasoline (and other oil products). The refinery buys oil (from BP, and Exxon, and every one else) and sells wholesale gasoline.

Then the retail tanker trucks from every gas station in the country fill up with THE EXACT SAME GASOLINE! Now each retail "brand" adds their own detergent and additivie package to the gasoline but the raw gasoline is exactly the same.

So if you buy all your gasoline from RaceWay guess what it was made from Exxon and BP (and everyone elses) oil.

If you buy gasoline at a BP station it isn't 100% BP. It is the same blend of oil from dozens of oil producers.

So people saying Exxon hasn't made a single dollar from them since the Valdez are fooling themselves.
The only way that is true is if you have purchased no gasoline or any other oil product (plastics, lubrication, etc) in last 2 decades.

Likewise someone driving an extra 10 miles to avoid a BP station likely made BP MORE money.
Why? Increased gasoline consumption = increased oil consumption and BP gets a cut of all of it.