Nichola Beckford/Contributor

For the second time this year Future Energy Source Company Limited (FESCO) is debuting a new fuel grade at its pumps, 93 octane — branded FESCO FUTRON 93. In March, the company unveiled E10 88. The new fuel will be available on pump at five FESCO station beginning today, Friday, December 9, with a further roll out to three stations on December 16. FUTRON 93 will then make its way to the remaining sixteen station in its network.

The five stations are FESCO Beechwood in St Andrew, FESCO Angels and FESCO Braeton in St Catherine, FESCO Orange Bay in Hanover, and FESCO Ocho Rios in St Ann. Next week Friday FUTRON 93 will be available at FESCO Ferry and FESCO Bodles in St Catherine, and FESCO Mandeville in Manchester.

The new fuel grade addition will put four options at the pumps for Jamaican motorists.

Octane rating is the scale on which fuel is judged on its ability to withstand detonation inside an internal combustion engine. Detonation, or engine knock as it’s sometimes commonly known, is when combustion takes place in an uncontrolled manner inside an engine’s combustion chamber rather than as determined by the ignition of the air/fuel mixture by the spark plug. Motorists experience this in a few ways, including an audible pinging sound from the engine, or erratic power delivery. This noise is caused by the shock wave that occurs within the cylinder. Significant or consistent detonation events can lead to engine damage in worst case scenarios.

To receive an octane rating the fuel has to be tested. There are several tests to determine octane rating, however they can all be scaled together. According to FESCO, FUTRON 93 is independently certified at 98.3 octane on the Research Octane Number (RON) scale.

“FUTRON 93 specifications meet or exceed most recommended fuel requirements by Original Equipment Manufacturers,” stated André Royes, business administration manager – FESCO, at the launch event at FESCO’s Beechwood Avenue station.

The reason for FUTRON 93 to be branded as such is due to the on the pump rating most customers are aware of, which is actually the Anti-Knock Index (AKI). In North America and western regions, this is the most common octane rating displayed. AKI is an average of two octane scales, RON, and the Motor Octane Number (MON). This makes the AKI equal to (RON+MON)/2. Using that scale FUTRON 93 is marked and sold as 93 octane.

FUTRON 93 is aimed at the premium and performance end of the market, as the higher octane is a benefit to these vehicle types. Owners of luxury and high performance vehicles, those with forced induction — supercharging and turbocharging, engines with high compression ratios, or those who modify their engines for increased horsepower output, are all potential candidates for 93 octane usage.

Using a higher octane fuel to begin with would automatically increase resistance to engine knock and potentially lengthen engine life, but Royes explained further that FUTRON 93 is formulated to deliver better power delivery, and increase fuel economy. These will come on the basis that the vehicle has been optimized to function on such an octane rating or higher, something is common on many luxury or sports cars. Otherwise the general benefits for all users would be reduction in engine carbon deposits and fuel emissions due to the cleaner burn.

In March of this year, FESCO was the first to bring a new grade of fuel to the market with its E10 88, 88 octane fuel, designed to sit between E10 87 and E10 91, the standard grades Jamaican motorists have been familiar with since the country made the switch to ethanol in 2008.

FESCO has been on a high since its initial public offering in 2021 generated $400 million. At the end of that same year the company reported profits of $170 million on revenues of $8 billion. Their latest station and current Headquarters on Beechwood Avenue, St Andrew, was opened in November 2021 under a new model, company owned-company operated. Jeremy Barnes, managing director — FESCO, indicated that FESCO plans to grow to around twenty-two stations within an eighteen month period.