Unleaded Petrol and Its Implications for the Australian Oil Industry

In 1981 the Australian Transport Advisory Council recommended to the Federal Government that Australia adopt a nationally uniform policy requiring new passenger cars manufactured after January 1, 1986, be designed to operate on unleaded petrol and meet the equivalent of US 1975 emission standards. This paper describes the development of an Australian standard for unleaded petrol with particular relevance to the choice of key parameters such as octane rating, permissible lead content, sulphur and phosphorus content, and colour. It focuses on the major implications for the oil industry including the production of unleaded petrol to meet the standard, its storage and its distribution with particular reference to the changeover from leaded regular to the unleaded grade with nationwide supply by July 1, 1985. The implementation of new quality control procedures are described and future developments are briefly discussed.