Premium gasoline is getting more expensive
Here’s some bad news for drivers of luxury cars and large sport-utility vehicles who are pumping the top grade of gasoline: the premium they pay over regular fuel is getting pricier.
U.S. and European refiners are scrambling to get enough octane to make high-quality gasoline. There are several potential reasons for the shortfall, including the fallout of Russia’s war in Ukraine, the impact of U.S. environmental regulations and a lack of refining capacity.
The net effect is that it’s making the fuel even more expensive than usual, when compared with regular unleaded. In the U.S., the price gap is around 75 cents a gallon — about 15 percent more than during the same period last year — data from automotive
group AAA show. In the U.K., the premium has widened by 25 percent on an annual basis, the most recent monthly data show.
Octane itself is a hydrocarbon, produced in the refining of crude oil, though consumers know about it through the so-called octane rating for gasoline. A higher value means the fuel is more stable and less likely to cause engine knock. Vehicle manufacturers often recommend highoctane gasoline — the premium grades at the pump — to get peak performance from turbocharged or high-compression engines.
Even regular gasoline contains octane. However, the shortfall shouldn’t be problematic because there are more lowoctane components available for making regular gasoline than high-octane fuel.
The octane shortage for premium gasoline is of particular concern as refiners move away from winter-grade. That type of fuel uses butane which is generally more plentiful, from natural-gas processing to increase octane.
The European Union and the U.K. last month banned most seaborne imports of Russian petroleum products, reducing the region’s supply of naphtha, a key component in making gasoline. Meanwhile, the European petrochemical industry has cut supply of octane-boosting additives as high energy costs and weak demand curbed operations.
The loss of these Russian feedstocks is critical for gasoline markets this year, according to consultant Energy Aspects. Octane tightness is set to become more evident as refiners switch to the production of summer-grade fuel in April.
Separately, U.S. “Tier 3” environmental regulations, which require lower sulfur content in gasoline, have created complications.
Compliance with the rules requires more severe hydrotreatgenerally ing of naphtha and gasoline during refining. The process destroys octane, thus contributing to a shortage and helping to widen the value of premium gasoline to regular grade.
The gasoline sulfur standard for the rules took effect in 2017. In 2020 fuel demand dropped due to pandemic-related travel restrictions. The true effects of the regulations started to become clear last year as gasoline consumption recovered, according to analysts at Bank of America.
“Meeting lower sulfur requirements comes at the expense of octane levels, which likely contributed to soaring prices for high octane blending components,” they said in a recent note. “This dynamic should continue in 2023 and may lead to similar explosive upside in gasoline prices this summer.”