Roadhouses ‘hold out’ on Opal
Opal roll-out should cut sniffing
July 8, 2006Surviving the restaurant game getting harder
July 12, 2006ARE there problems with Opal?
The Weekend Australian reported that after an 11 month campaign by the federal Department of Health to make Opal the only fuel available in central Australia some large roadhouses – within 2 hours drive of Aboriginal communities – are still holding out. They name:
- Erldunda Roadhouse on the junction of the Stuart and Lasseter Highways – the largest in central Australia;
- Kulgera Roadhouse on the SA-NT border;
- Stuarts Well Roadhouse, south of Alice Springs.
Tristan Day Coordinator of CAYLUS (Central Australian Youth Link-UP Services) has called on ‘hold out’ roadhouses to take on Opal because it “raised the living standards of Aboriginal people”.
Pat Alexander, Administrator of Erldunda, has said that Opal fuel causes leaks in bowsers and some problems in cars.
Paul Pearson is the Assistant Manager at Caltex in Alice Springs. His station is selling Opal but he says consumer demand means unleaded fuel is unlikelt to be replaced in the near future. He is unsure of what people in Alice Springs think of the Opal project.
“I think what happens in most businesses is the customer drives the product. And if the customer’s going to drive us to Opal fuel, then that’s probably where we’d go. But at the moment, at 400 litres a day versus 3,000 to 4,000 litres of unleaded fuel a day, I know where my business will be, and that’s with unleaded fuel rather than Opal.”
Gerry Hueston, President of BP Australia says “The product meets all fuel standards specifically for vehicles”.
You have to wonder if there has been adequate ‘evidence’ put out about what is likely to happen to cars running on Opal.
Are you part of the Alice Springs community? Has there been much info about Opal?
Would YOU use Opal in your car?
1 Comment
Came across your post whilst doing a search on Opal fuel. Specifically I was after technical data – the octane level.
I live in the Alice. I drive a 3 yr old Magna and have always used Premium Unleaded fuel and will continue to do so until such time that I can afford to upgrade my vehicle to the more environmentally friendly Prius.
Recently I spent a few days down at Uluru (Ayers Rock Resort) and the ONLY fuel available to visitors is Opal.
Opal’s octane level is meant to be a minimum of 91. Given I’ve been using fuels with octane levels of 98 or 95, dropping back to 91 did not impress me.
However, not having any choice, I filled up.
I think I got less fuel range on the Opal. And I won’t use it again unless I have to (such as when I visit the Rock again).
I do keep an open mind that my reduced fuel range may be due to the ageing of the car, coupled with the lower octane level of the fuel.
I find it very interesting that it is rather difficult to find information on the web about any problems or possible problems with Opal. The BP site isn’t much help either, they say their fuels can be used in any petrol-driven car running on unleaded.
However, word of mouth info from service station owners and other car owners is that Opal isn’t the greatest fuel to put into your car.
As for the alleged reductions in petrol-sniffing in remote communities, well that’s another story.