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The real truth about fuel and lubricant additives can only be understood by first learning the facts about the oil refining industry. Not widely known is the fact that of every barrel of crude oil that is refined, some 83% of that barrel becomes a motor fuel such as gasoline (petrol), diesel, aviation/jet, etc. From that same barrel of crude comes only 1.6% in the form of lubricants with the remaining 15% or so yielding a variety of products from petrochemical feed stocks to tar and asphalt [source : American Petroleum Institute(API)]. In view of this fact, it is simple to see that the 83% fuel yield is the largest source of income to the oil refiner and as such, is the ‘‘life blood’’ of his profits. Keep this foregoing fact in mind as we proceed.
The 1.6% of the yield going to lubricants is in reality a byproduct of the refining process and contributes very little to the refiner’s profits. It must now be understood that simply refining a barrel of crude to get the 1.6% as lubricants is not enough as just the refined lubricant will NOT lubricate properly without what is referred to as the ‘‘additive package’’ (usually no more than 10% by volume) added to the refined lubricant by the oil refiner. The oil refiner then ‘‘warrants’’ his lubricating oil to perform in a ‘‘satisfactory’’ manner in your equipment. This raises the question as to who decides what is ‘‘satisfactory’’ and what is not? By whose definition does the preblended lubricant (or fuel for that matter) perform in a ‘‘satisfactory’’ manner? The oil refiner’s, the equipment manufacturer’s or do you, the equipment owner/user, have any say in how this term is defined? Sorry, but the user of the lubricant or fuel has no input as to what is satisfactory or not. This has already been decided for you by the oil refiner. Now you may ask why does not the oil refiner improve his lubricants and his fuel to the point of ‘‘superior’’or ‘‘maximum’’ performance? After all, it has long been known that fully formulated lubricants can be measurably improved by simply increasing the preblended additive package above the usual 10%. The truth is that the oil refiner has no incentive to improve his lubricants or fuel, and in fact has every reason to resist any improvement to them. What reason does the oil refiner have for this line of thinking? The answer is very simple: Any lubricant, solid or liquid, must be used in a mechanical device for one primary purpose; to make the metal moving parts move easily against each other. Now the better the performance of the lubricant, the easier the metal parts move against each other with less wear taking place. BUT, something else also happens at the same time as a side effect. The easier the metal parts move against each other the less friction you have AND THE LESS ENERGY YOU NEED TO POWER THE MECHANICAL DEVICE. Obvious conclusion - improved lubrication to the point of superior or maximum performance is a direct threat to the refiner’s largest source of income from each barrel of crude - the 83% yield of motor fuel which supplies the energy to power the mechanical device you are trying to lubricate properly.
In addition, why should the refiner increase his cost by improving his lubricants when it is really only a byproduct of his refining process and already contributes very little to his income? From his standpoint, there is no valid reason why he should. The equipment manufacturers have also been aware of the foregoing truths for some time but they have chosen to stay in the background and say nothing. Why? This also has a very simple answer. Lubrication in a superior or maximum manner first of all decreases friction and wear. What does decreased wear mean to the equipment manufacturer? Obvious answer - reduced sales of new equipment and reduced sales of replacement parts. Again, improved lubrication is a direct threat to the income of the equipment manufacturer. Is there any doubt as to why the oil refining industry (and to some degree the OEM industry) began, many years ago, a dedicated effort to suppress and discredit the advanced technology of fuel and lubricant additives which you may yourself add to what you have purchased from them?
Additives or additive packages installed by the equipment owner/user are commonly referred to as ‘‘aftermarket additives’’. But, how many times have you heard them called ‘‘snake oil’’, ‘‘mouse milk’’ or some other derogatory and insulting name? Probably more times than you can remember and by now, you should realize the origin of such names, why they are used and the fact that there is no truth in them at all.
Now let us discuss specifically the aftermarket additives, what they are and
what they do. As of early 1996, there are currently in excess of some 200 different
brands of aftermarket fuel and lubricant additives available on the market with
some being sold by Ford, GM, etc. All make a wide range of claims as to the
benefit of their use and most of these claims are probably true to some extent.
However, 99.9% of these additives are simply more of the same additive package
initially blended into the fuel or lubricant by the oil refiner and we have
already brought out the fact that the refiner does not put enough additive into
their fuels and lubricants to begin with. Now putting more of the same additives
into the fuel or lubricant is beneficial (assuming the marketer of the additive
does not instruct you to overdo it). But, considering what you pay for the additional
additive, is it really cost effective? Probably not with the possible exception
of fuel injector cleaner (needed because the fuel you buy does not have enough
detergent additive in it to begin with). As we all know, dirty injectors cause
excessive fuel consumption. This is good for the oil refiner - he sells more
fuel and makes more money. Regardless of the claim to benefits, no manufacturer
or marketer of aftermarket additives provides any kind of warranty wherein the
user is guaranteed any level of dollar savings through the use of their products
- EXCEPT for the Parsec formulations. We provide a warranty
unlike anything ever heard of in the lubrication industry regardless of whether
fully formulated or additive. And in reality, our formulas cannot be truly called
an “aftermarket additive”. With such a wide range of applications, our formulas
are used as fully formulated (completed) in some applications and with the same
formula, used as an additive or concentrate in another type of application.
Therefore, our formulas really do not totally fit into either category; but
fall somewhere in between as a hybrid family of formulations which are proprietary,
unique, made with classified manufacturing processes and without equal anywhere
in the world, or out of it if in deep space.
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