by The price of fuel is increasing almost weekly, along with which fuel market experts are recording large quantities of components being imported into the country for the production of counterfeit gasoline. It all makes sense, as rising prices provoke unscrupulous businessmen to ‘play with badyaga’ – fake fuel provides mind-boggling profits…
Specialists from the Kyiv Institute of Consumer Expertise conducted a study on 15 gas station networks to identify the real situation concerning the quality of the popular A-95 gasoline.
This time, a large number of regional networks were checked, as well as major national gas stations. In total, 14 samples were sent to the laboratory – WOG, OKKO, SHELL, ZOG, KLO, PRIME, BRSF-nafta, Avantage 7, BVS, CHIPO, Brent Oil, MOTTO, and for contrast, two non-network gas stations Kraft and Cyclone in the Dnipropetrovsk region.
As always, experts divided the laboratory results into zones – green, blue, and red. The first included networks whose results met all standards and had a ‘margin of strength’ in terms of quality, the blue zone included gas stations whose fuel did not have violations according to the relevant DSTU requirements, and the red zone included networks whose fuel was substandard, that is, it had deviations in quality indicators.
The green zone was pleased with 5 participants – WOG, OKKO, ZOG, and PRIME. First, they checked the octane number, which should be at a level of no less than 95 units. All samples showed good results – all had a ‘reserve’. The largest reserve was found in WOG (95.6 units). Their colleague fell short by only one-tenth – ZOG (95.5 units). They then looked at sulfur content, one of the most important indicators, which is directly an indicator of the engine’s long ‘life’. Here the ‘reserve’ was not as large, but all the fuel met Euro 5 standards.
The minimum value was found in A-95 gasoline from the ZOG network (7 mg/kg), slightly more at WOG (8 mg/kg). Regarding the content of aromatic hydrocarbons, all participants were within the norm. Another important indicator was then checked – benzene content. This toxic substance should be as little as possible in gasoline, as an increase in its quantity directly affects the reduction of the engine’s life. The result was ‘excellent’. The lowest quantity was in PRIME (0.33% with a standard of not more than 1%), with minimum values also found in WOG and OKKO.
Fuel purchased at gas stations Avantage 7, SHELL, KLO, BVS, CHIPO, and Kraft fell into the blue zone. The A-95 gasoline sold here met all DSTU requirements, but in some parameters fell short of the ‘reserve’. It should be noted that in terms of octane numbers, Avantage 7, BVS, CHIPO, and Kraft showed a reserve at the level of the ‘green’ zone, with numbers of 95.6-95.7 units.
Unfortunately, there are 4 samples in the red zone. A-95 gasoline did not meet the DSTU in the networks BRSF-nafta, MOTTO, Brent Oil, and Cyclone. The first three samples were found lacking in ‘octane’ – BRSF-nafta (93.3 units), MOTTO (92.4 units), Brent Oil (92.4 units). Regarding sulfur, harmful to ecology and air in particular, an excess of more than two times was found in the MOTTO sample (22 mg/kg with a standard of not more than 10).
Most importantly, things got serious when benzene content was checked. A fivefold (!) excess of the permissible level of this toxic substance was found in the sample from BRSF-nafta (4.88% with a standard of not more than 1%). No less shocking numbers were found in MOTTO and Cyclone – more than threefold excess! In general, ecologists need to sound the alarm – with such exorbitant benzene content, health problems for drivers and pedestrians are almost inevitable.
Vadim Krivenko
