Petrobras introduces new Grid mix but drivers miss gasoline
Brazilian state oil company Petrobras has been promoting its newly introduced “Grid” gasoline-ethanol mix for the past months as a product which offers to help engine performance yet at least some drivers said they would rather buy purer gasoline.
“Pure gasoline without any mixture would be much better for engine performance compared with the mixtures sold today, even as Petrobras is careful to try to offer a high-quality fuel,” Ariel Gusmao, from the Brazilian Automobile Club (Automovel Clube do Brasil), recently told PetrolPlaza by email.
Separately, Fulvio Loreto, post-sales manager at Stuttgart Sportcar, a Porsche dealer in Sao Paulo, told PetrolPlaza also by email that “unfortunately in Brazil the gasoline is not one of very good quality” as he also mentioned that it has high ethanol content.
Loreto said that for Porsche drivers he only recommends the higher octane rating Podium gasoline mix, which is the most expensive in Brazil and is also sold by Petrobras. Podium has a minimum 95 rating and 30 ppm of sulfur compared with an 87 rating and 50 ppm sulfur for both Grid and the regular gasoline. However, Podium, like all gasoline mixes sold in Brazil, also has 25% ethanol.
The gasoline mixes compete against the other main fuel in Brazil which is pure ethanol. Most vehicles in Brazil can run both on gasoline or pure ethanol. Most fuel service stations offer both pure ethanol and the gasoline-ethanol mixes with 25% ethanol. Pure gasoline is not available.
Brazil started to introduce sugar cane-based ethanol as fuel for vehicles in the 1970s. Since that time it has mandated different contents of ethanol depending on the availability of the biofuel which in turn can depend on sugar prices or on the country’s sugar cane output. The level of ethanol is currently set by law at 25%.
The green-colored, 87 octane Grid fuel, introduced at the end of July, includes detergents and additives designed to reduce engine wear and to improve performance, Petrobras Distribuidora spokesman Marcelo Siqueira recently told PetrolPlaza. The 87 octane regular gasoline also has 50 ppm of sulfur but does not contain additives. Petrobras also offers a 91 octane, 50 ppm sulfur mix.
The development of the Grid fuel had a cost equivalent to about US $35 million but that included all advertising in addition to all research and development costs, Siqueira said.
As of August, one month after its introduction to the market, the Grid fuel was available in at least 5,500 fuel sales points across the country, he said.
Not all of the estimated 40,000 sales points including gasoline stations existing in Brazil will sell Grid, Siqueira said adding that he does not have any more recent figure.
Only some 7,500 stations in Brazil operate under the Petrobras flag, Siqueira said. Petrobras fuel is also sold through stations which are “white” or independent, he added. Fuel distribution and oil companies do not own retail stations but instead have accords for the use of brands such as Petrobras, Shell, Ipiranga and others, he said.
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