Greetings!
An Economic Perspective...
The major oil companies are raising prices again in May 2008. Expected increases are in the 10% range and higher on some products. Chevron led this increase with an announcement a few weeks back. Pressures on this announcement come at the heels of posted base oil increases over the last 3 months, driven from $110 crude oil prices, along with rising additive, packaging, and transportation costs.
Would it not be a novel idea to raise our salaries to cover the increases we all incur on fuel and groceries?
The rising prices on oil are also driven by the weakening position of the U.S. Dollar. Due to the fact that a majority of our oil is imported, all imports are becoming increasingly expensive due to the USD's global weakening. Other countries are being forced to keep their currency weakened to be able to compete and supply to the U.S.
The tough part is the FED has tipped their hand by saying the "R" word, Recession, in their last address. They also implied that the FED will be printing money to keep the economy stabilized. This action will further weaken our dollar over the next 5 years, further weakening our buying position. This effect will cause pricing on imports, including oil, to continue north.
Remember, buying power in the oil world is through scale. JG |
PETROCON's Commitment
Our progam is designed to give you purchasing power and help you get the most out of your lubricant dollar spent.
If you have not engaged with us on our offering, don't waste time, because time is money.
Call us today for a personlized quotation. To expedite the process, get a perspective on your products, package sizes, volumes, and your lube dispensing equipment (do you own or not?).
Call us today at (301) 663-8906, x110. |
Extending Fuel Mileage
How many of us are looking at the Toyota Prius and thinking..."That car doesn't look so bad...wouldn't it be nice to be getting 40-60 mpg on a gallon of fuel?"
Trading in your SUV and extended cab pickup is not always the preferred alternative, so getting the most out of what you have may be.
Oil companies are picking up on this and as usual, trying to make a buck at positioning their products to help you increase fuel economy.
ExxonMobil announced a new product, actually a repositioning of a product, called Mobil 1 Advanced Fuel Economy engine oil. The real benefit of achieving fuel economy, or energy savings is not the additives used as much as it is the oil viscosity of the product. The product launch above is based on the fluid being a 0W20, or 0W30. The "0" signifies the viscosity of the base oil, and replaces the 5W and 10W recommended oils.
The lower visosity has an "inherently lower internal resistance to flow", the true definition of viscosity. This means less frictional loss, ie: power consumption, used to overcome the visosity of the oil that the moving kinetic parts of the engine are operating in. Since less energy is needed to move within the oil, less energy is consumed and more is used to develop power and the result is increased fuel mileage.
This can be achieved in the commercial diesel world as well. Most diesel engine requirements are for 15W40 engine oils. The synthetic equivalents for these are typically 5W40 products, like Rotella T Synthetic 5W40. The lower viscosity will provide increase fuel economy, not just in your car, but in your diesel powered equipment also. The issues to watch under this strategy are increased wear rates. The lower the viscosity, the lower the film strength, the more wear that can occur. The synthetic oils can compensate for the lower viscosity and wear situation due to their inherent ability to maintain their viscosity in relationship to temperature, equivalent to the high Viscosity Index V.I. these products possess.
Diesel 10W30 engine oils are blended on the conventional lubricant side but don't possess the same high temperature protection provided by the synthetic 5W40 products.
These products are a very competitive solution to help increase fuel economy in diesel engines, care, proper fluid analysis and engine inspections need to be performed regularly to make these programs a success in extending your lubricant dollar.
In the next issue, we'll be taking a look at fuel additive technology to help with fuel economy. |
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Petrocon Corporation is the leader in petroleum procurement, "unbiased" technical knowledge, and experience in the marketplace.
Thanks for visiting, we look forward to hearing from you!
Sincerely,
Joseph Giovinazzo
President
Petrocon Corporation |
