Octane enhancers

Depending on the crude oil quality and refinery process, gasoline produced by refineries may not necessarily meet the minimum octane level required by the specifications. Hence, refiners add octane enhancers to gasoline. Many types of octane enhancer are commonly used by refiners:

In Saudi Arabia, methyl tert butyl ether (MTBE) and tert-Amyl methyl ether (TAME) are the major octane enhancers used. We noted a small and single use of methanol, ethanol and tert-Amyl methyl ether (TAME). Ethyl tertiary butyl ether (ETBE) and Tert-Amyl ethyl ether (TAEE) were absent from all gasoline samples.