August 28, 2012:

Inquiry into Chevron's Richmond refinery fire could spark prosecution, regulatory reform  Dean said "a few" service stations have pumps with premium or midgrade gasoline unavailable until they can be tested. "We're very confident that 'regular' is in good shape now," he said, adding that regular-grade accounts for more than 80 percent of gasoline sold in the region. BP on Monday also provided some details about the source of the contamination, which arose when one feed of oil piped into a refining unit — called the alkylation unit, or alky — didn't have the correct molecular makeup and contaminated the resulting gasoline, Dean said. Using an alky is a secondary attempt in the refining process to convert more oil into gasoline using acid to rearrange molecules. Not all crude oil is converted to gasoline on the first pass through the refinery's distillation equipment. The eventual result from the alky is supposed to be a high-octane, clean-burning gasoline with anti-knock properties. But from Aug. 13 to Aug. 17, one of the feeds into the alky didn't have the correct properties. "We found and cut off the problem to the alkylation unit. One of the streams of feed it was getting was bad — it was not of the chemical composition we wanted," Dean said.

By the time the problem was discovered, the bad gasoline, with larger and more complex hydrocarbon molecules that don't burn well, had spread throughout BP distribution channels. Some was sold to motorists whose vehicles experienced such symptoms as hard-starting, stalling, rough idling and illumination of the check-engine light. In most cases, spark plugs and fuel injectors essentially became dirty and didn't work correctly. Repairs, which primarily consist of draining the fuel tank and cleaning the fuel system, cost $300 to $1,200.  Motorists who believe their vehicles have been damaged by the contaminated fuel can file a claim by calling BP's customer hotline at 800-333-3991 or 800-599-9040. Consumers can also access information and submit an online inquiry at bpresponse.com. Consumers should save sales receipts, credit or debit card records and repair bills, the company said.

By Chicago Tribune