And the most progressive gas station is..

[al_liberal]

9. Tough call

P.D.V.SA (Venezuela) wholly owns CITGO and Chavez did a lot for the people of his country. On the other Venezuela's oil is very "sour" or dirty so refining it requires a lot more processing.

I spent 4 years working at the joint venture UNOCAL / CITGO refinery in Lemont, IL back in the 90's. They also use a hydrofluoric acid processing unit to make the high octane stuff. Back then we were the sole source refinery to NASCAR. Hydrofluoric acid is neutralized by calcium, as in the stuff in one's bones. The workers unfortunate enough to get splashed even while following all safety precautions never looked the same afterwards. The stuff is so toxic that the refinery had a distance radius auto dial system to call EVERYONE within the radius and warn them that they just might get flesh burning rain that day.

Once CITGO took over the refinery outright, NASCAR switched to Sunoco, which they still use today.