As the price of fuel goes up and up more drivers are thinking about using generic gas from stations that are not affiliated with the big international gas companies like Exxon or Shell. The question is, can you get the same quality of gas from ABC gas station as you can get from the big guys? Will the XYZ gas run your car with out causing damage to your engine?

The answer is yes the generic gas will work just fine. There is really not much difference between the generic gas and the more expensive branded gasoline except for additives that define a company brand. To understand how this can be you can take a quick look at how the gas refining system handles the gas it produces. This makes the generic versus brand argument easy to figure out.

Gasoline produced at refineries is a generic product. A good example to illustrate the gas terminal concept is California where all gas sold there has to meet the same environmental specifications. Since all the gas in California has to be to the same specifications it doesn't matter whose gas the refiners use, it's all the same. Because of this, the refiners often trade gasoline and store gasoline at shared terminals where all the gas is in common tanks.

The gasoline that is produced at one refinery is not really different than another refinery. They all produce what one would call generic gas. It is the chemicals that are added to the generic gas that makes one brand different from another. Each brand has it's own formula of additives.

Such blending or adding of these brand chemicals or additives typically takes place when the gasoline is being loaded into a tanker truck for further distribution. In other words all the brands are starting with essentially the same generic gas as their main component. So generic gas is basically the same as the branded gas.

Just to be safe, there have been studies to see if there is a difference between generic fuel and branded fuel. The latest research was a cooperative study was done by the Maryland State Comptroller's office and ABC News.

Scientists at the Fuel Testing Lab performed a myriad of tests on generic and branded gasoline. The gasoline was tested for many things including contaminants like excessive sediments or diesel that might have gotten mixed with the gas. The scientists put the fuel into a special test engine to make sure that the fuel was all 87 octane. The chemists at the lab even made sure that the fuel was properly formulated for the current season as mandated by regulations.

The study results are good news for you. The study found that for the most part all gas was one and the same. The major difference between brands of gasoline is how much detergent additives are put into it. Even taking into consideration the additives the differences between them are very small.

Essentially gas is gas is gas. All fuel sold for your vehicle regardless if it is generic or branded will work just fine. The one big difference is really what you already knew, the non branded gas has the lower price.

It is estimated that the average consumer can save between $100 and $200 per year by using generic gas. Save yourself some cash next time you fill up. Go to the generic station.