Frequently Asked Questions

Q1: What is CountryMark?
A: CountryMark is Indiana's only American-owned oil refining and marketing company and is recognized nationwide as a leader in the distribution of biodiesel and ethanol. The company operates a refinery in Mount Vernon, headquarters in Indianapolis and fuel terminals located in Mount Vernon, Switz City, Jolietville, and Peru, Ind.; as well as Henderson, Kentucky. Seventeen cooperatives deliver CountryMark fuels, and an estimated 90 fuel stations deliver CountryMark branded fuels in and around the state of Indiana.

Q2: Can I purchase fuel at a CountryMark fuel site?
A: Yes. There are 90 CountryMark fuel stations across Indiana, Ohio, Illinois and Michigan where customers can purchase high quality fuel 24 hours a day, and you do not need to be a cooperative member to use a CountryMark fueling stations.

Q3: How is CountryMark fuel distributed?
A: A key strength of our brand is the quality control realized through our private pipeline and terminal system, the efficient distribution channel of our branded retailers, expertise of petroleum sales representatives and experience of local energy managers. CountryMark sells fuel to 17 branded cooperatives who then distribute it through a network of 90 retail fuel stations, 180 petroleum tankwagons and numerous transport loads. This fuel is delivered daily to Indiana companies, farms and government entities.

Q4: Where does CountryMark source its crude oil?
A: The CountryMark refinery in Mount Vernon, Ind., uses 100 percent American crude sourced from the Illinois Basin, a 53,000 square mile depression underneath most of Illinois, western Indiana, western Kentucky and northern Tennessee. A system of approximately 500 miles of pipelines owned by CountryMark is used to gather the crude from thousands of small wells that are owned by farmers and other individuals who own the land above the oil field.

Q5: How productive is the Illinois Basin oil field?
A: The Illinois Basin is one of the most extensively drilled and mature hydrocarbon basins in the world and has been in production for more than a century. Production declined over the years but is now at a fairly constant level of about 50,000 barrels per day (roughly half of that production is refined by CountryMark). Based on geological evidence and the advent of new technologies, experts believe that recent resource discoveries and new applications are signs that the basin still has much potential. For example:

Q6: What makes Illinois Basin crude so special?
A: First is the fact that it comes from America. By sourcing American crude oil, CountryMark contributes to America's energy independence, a stronger domestic economy and greater domestic energy security. Second, the crude itself is higher quality than most crude oils in the world. CountryMark uses Illinois Basin crude, which is a light sweet crude oil. This type of oil results in higher value products that can be recovered with greater efficiences than heavy sour crude.

Because of the consistent, high quality, American feedstock that goes into the CountryMark plant, and the refinery expertise and technology within the plant, CountryMark is able to refine premium American diesel fuels that deliver exceptional power, performance and value to farms, fleets and families thoughout the Midwest.

Q7: What is the cetane rating of diesel fuel?
A: Cetane is the diesel equivalent to gasoline’s octane rating. Unlike an octane rating, which rates gasoline’s resistance to spontaneous ignition, the cetane rating number notes the relative ease with which diesel fuel ignites. The higher the cetane number, the easier the fuel ignites. Standards require at least a 40 cetane rating, and premium, off-road diesel fuel has a 47 to 50 cetane rating. CountryMark premium diesel is guaranteed to have a cetane rating of 50 or above. Our premium diesel flagship product, Super Dieselex-4, is made from 100 percent American crude oil that contains naturally high cetane.

Q8: What is CountryMark’s investment in alternative fuels, and what is its vision for this market?
A: CountryMark has been on the forefront of biofuels, and especially crop-based products, since the late 1970s when “Gasohol” first came on the scene. In the early 1990s, CountryMark worked with the Indiana Soybean Board on soy biodiesel, and in 2002 we made soy biodiesel available to our customers. CountryMark was the first in the nation to implement metered blending of biodiesel at the terminal. In 2004, CountryMark was the first in the nation to implement terminal biodiesel rack injection, a process by which pure biodiesel is injected into the diesel stream as it is being loaded into the tanker. This computer-controlled blending process ensures a completely accurate and seamless biodiesel blend. Our local cooperatives have done a great job getting the product accepted by their customers, and today CountryMark is the largest blender of biodiesel in Indiana. Finally, it’s important to note that whether it is ethanol or biodiesel, we still hold these products to the stringent quality standards our customers have come to expect.

1 Appalachian and Illinois Basin Directors’ Report, in cooperation with the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission and the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Fossil Energy and National Energy Technology Laboratory, 2005.

Contact: Belinda Puetz, 317.238.8225