After receiving a call from a frustrated Winter Texan who said he was having difficulty finding the new ultra-low sulfur diesel for his truck, the Winter Texan Times made some calls to see why the gasoline was not yet available. The caller said that using the new ultra-low sulfur diesel was imperative because using the wrong kind of diesel would ruin the new, 2007 model vehicles.
The first call went to Mike Broughton, an officer of Vista Oil, a company that supplies many of the Shell stations in the Upper Valley. Broughton said there were three different types of diesel being delivered to Valley stations. The best way to find the new ultra-low sulfur diesel was to visit the different stations and look for the ultra label at the pumps. Some stations have it while others do not. Those that do will have the sticker on the pump. He said Shell does have the ultra-low sulfur diesel available in the Valley for consumers with new vehicles.
Broughton said the problem is that many of the auto manufacturers have gotten ahead in production of vehicles designed to meet the new low-sulfur emissions regulations, and the manufacturers of the new diesel have not been able to keep up with the demand.
Debra Leao with Susser Oil in Houston said their trucks loaded ultra-low sulfur diesel from a rack located in Harlingen to deliver to stations across the Valley and state. But she could not say exactly where in the Rio Grande Valley customers could purchase the product.
Leao said in order to convert a diesel fuel storage tank to ultra-low sulfur it has to be "turned" or cleaned four times before the fuel could be loaded. Because of the complicated process, few stations had taken the steps to make the conversion. The stations are not required to make the change before 2010 to meet new standards.
Leao said Susser Oil supplies fuels to the major companies such as Exxon and Valero.
One person said the Valero Edinburg terminal had not yet been converted over to take the ultra-low diesel fuel.
Because most stations in the Valley are Valero the next attempt was to google Valero on the Internet and see if there was a list of stations where the gasoline was available. After an hour of trying that to no avail, the editor got in her car and went to a company-owned Valero and asked the manager.
"I don’t have it and don’t know who else in the Valley might have it," he said.
The next stop was at the Exxon located at the intersection of Inspiration Road, Expressway 83 and Business 83 on the west side of Mission.
"We have it,” said manager Lesvia Garcia. "There is also another Exxon on Inspiration and Mile 3 Road that has it," she indicated.
Garcia went on to say that it was difficult for stations to get an allocation of the fuel. That was the reason that so few stations had it.
While it is at a premium, there are stations–at least Shell and Exxon– in the Rio Grande Valley that do have the ultra-low sulfur diesel. As Broughton suggested, the best way to find them is simply to look for the pump labels at the stations. The stations most likely to have the fuel are the larger stations that have a number of pumps for different fuels.
In the meantime, the fuel suppliers need to catch up with government demands for the fuels as people are buying the vehicles and finding they are having difficulty finding the fuel.
Call Us
If you know of any gas stations in the Valley offering the new, ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel, call or write the editor at the Winter Texan Times and we will publish a list of stations in our next issue and post it on our website. To report this information call Kathy Olivarez at (956) 571-6668, or email her at editor@wintertexantimes .com.