# Color of diesel fuel



## 6speedTi (May 18, 2018)

Back in the day when I was pumping gas as a high school kid the boss told me that gasoline is color coded or dyed for identification purposes. I would guess the same goes for diesel to avoid a mixup. The only gasoline brand and grade back then that had no color to it and was clear was Amoco Premium 93 octane.


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## Snipesy (Dec 7, 2015)

It does not.

Red dye is added to tax exempt fuel as a legal requirement.

That’s the only dye legally required. Other dyes will he added as part of the refining and transportation process with green usually added which is what you are seeing.

Diesel is normally Amber or clear.


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## JDH (Dec 24, 2014)

Red is tax exempt off road diesel. May or may not be ultra low sulfur.
Blue is tax exempt on road sold to mainly government agencies. It should be ultra low sulfur.


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## boraz (Aug 29, 2013)

color means nothing


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## 6speedTi (May 18, 2018)

boraz said:


> color means nothing


If so then why do oil companies spend money on adding a color dye to the fuel? 
It costs $$ to manufacture it, store it and add it to the fuel. I'm sure there is more than one reason for a color dye. Identification is probably the main reason to accidental mixing fuels.


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## Barry Allen (Apr 18, 2018)

JDH said:


> Red is tax exempt off road diesel. May or may not be ultra low sulfur.
> Blue is tax exempt on road sold to mainly government agencies. It should be ultra low sulfur.


Yes, I can understand red dye for off-road fuel. When driving through the western states I found ULSD dyed for off-road use at a couple fuel stations.

Because of the ULSD foaming so much I manually fill the tank up to the top each time I refuel. From a few stations I can see a very light neon green tint to the fuel, which I thought was some kind of dye for reasons that I don't know about.

The other day I filled up at a station for the first time I've been there after they rebranded as Circle K (used to be Mobil). I noticed the fuel was crystal clear, and it's not like I've seen filling up at other places.


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## boraz (Aug 29, 2013)

6speedTi said:


> If so then why do oil companies spend money on adding a color dye to the fuel?
> It costs $$ to manufacture it, store it and add it to the fuel. I'm sure there is more than one reason for a color dye. Identification is probably the main reason to accidental mixing fuels.


does it mean anything to the driver? no.

its diesel fuel.

fill up and move on.


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