News

Downstream Oil & Gas M&A Part 1: Pssst… Want to Buy a Refinery?

November 18, 2020 , ,

November 15, 2020 By Vaughn Hulleman & Jim Mladenik The petroleum industry is known for its cyclic nature, and, traditionally, value-buyers find opportunity to acquire assets during periods of stress. The current reduction in oil products’ demand brought on by the pandemic, along with other factors, have severely distressed downstream oil and gas assets. Several refineries have already shut down...
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Amid year of global uncertainty, Stillwater launches West Coast Watch and proprietary Refining Margin Index

November 18, 2020 , , , , ,

On November 17th, Stillwater Associates launched the West Coast Watch. This market information portal provides refined petroleum product and renewable fuels supply and demand data, industry news, and analysis to help industry leaders understand the market, spot opportunities, and act confidently.   The West Coast transportation fuels market is often referred to as an island, full of complexities and obstacles...
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Introducing the West Coast Watch Market Analysis

November 18, 2020 , , , ,

November 18, 2020 The West Coast transportation fuels market is rapidly changing with significant impacts just this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the push to de-carbonize the transport sector. Based on these factors and with an eye toward helping stakeholders navigate this challenging market, Stillwater is introducing our West Coast Watch market information portal. Fuel producers, marketers, retailers,...
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California’s Clean Truck Regulation: How will the ACT Impact Medium- and Heavy-Duty Vehicle Fuel Demand and Emissions?

November 18, 2020 , , , ,

November 18, 2020 Through our new West Coast Watch platform, Stillwater is pleased to offer this forward-looking view on the possible changes to medium- and heavy-duty vehicle fuel demand and emissions under California’s Advanced Clean Truck Regulation. This Stillwater Special Report provides an overview of California’s Advanced Clean Truck Rule (ACT) and its impacts on medium- and heavy-duty vehicle (MHDV)...
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Flash Report: 2Q2020 LCFS Data Show Slight Draw on the Credit Bank

November 2, 2020 ,

November 2, 2020 On Friday afternoon, October 30th, CARB posted the second quarter 2020 data for the LCFS program. The 2Q2020 report gives us insight into the credit bank situation for the three months following stay-at-home orders due to COVID-19. In today’s flash report, we offer a quick look at the second quarter data. Our comprehensive analysis will be published...
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West Coast Watch: Ugly Refiner Margins Linger as Pandemic Drags On

October 22, 2020 ,

October 22, 2020 By Kendra Seymour and Leigh Noda The West Coast transportation fuels market is often referred to as an island, and refiners in California and Washington face unique market pressures even in the best of times. West Coast refiners are isolated geographically, must produce gasoline and diesel to unique specifications, and are subject to greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction...
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West Coast LCFS Credits Generated by Fuels Produced Out-of-State

October 20, 2020 , ,

October 20, 2020 by Jim Mladenik  Summary California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) and Oregon’s Clean Fuel Program (CFP) are designed to provide significant financial incentives for the production and blending of low-carbon fuels into the states’ transportation fuels systems. These incentives can be large enough to spur development of numerous projects to reduce the carbon intensity (CI) of ethanol,...
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Turning a Blind Eye to Oil Spills in Venezuela

September 28, 2020

September 28, 2020 By Barry Schaps The preface to Former National Security Advisor Lt. General H.R. McMaster’s new book Battlegrounds, published last week, begins with “This is not the book that most people wanted me to write.” Similarly, this article is not one our audience expects to find in Stillwater’s Newsletter, but its importance to our readership requires awareness. As...
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Part 2: What’s up with the new 100% ZEV mandate in California? An Internal Stillwater Conversation

September 24, 2020 ,

September 24, 2020 By Kendra Seymour Yesterday, shortly after California’s governor Gavin Newsom announced his Executive Order mandating 100% ZEV car sales by 2035, I caught up with a few of my colleagues via Slack to get a better understanding of the issues around electrification. Thinking that this dialogue might be of interest to our readers, we published that initial back-and-forth....
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What’s up with the new 100% ZEV mandate in California? An internal Stillwater conversation (Part 1)

September 23, 2020 ,

September 23, 2020 By Kendra Seymour As editor of Stillwater’s LCFS Newsletter and a contributor on many of Stillwater’s LCFS-related client projects, I spend most of my time researching and reporting around renewables markets and the programs which incentivize the development, deployment, and adoption of alternative fuels. Today, shortly after California’s governor Gavin Newsom announced his Executive Order mandating 100% ZEV car...
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West Coast Watch: The Pandemic and Wildfires Pummel Refining Margins

September 22, 2020 ,

September 22, 2020 By Megan Boutwell The West Coast transportation fuels market is often referred to as an island, and refiners in California and Washington face unique market pressures even in the best of times. West Coast refiners are isolated geographically, must produce gasoline and diesel to unique specifications, and are subject to greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction regulations including the...
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Stillwater Stars in Litigation Support

September 15, 2020 ,

September 15, 2020 By Barry Schaps You are probably familiar with expert witnesses in legal cases from their appearances on TV shows and in movies. But did you know that Stillwater Associates provides expert testimony and litigation support for cases involving the transportation fuels industry? In fact, litigation support is one of our core areas of expertise, even if Stillwater’s...
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Introducing the West Coast Watch Refining Margin Index

August 27, 2020

August 27, 2020 By Megan Boutwell The West Coast transportation fuels market is often referred to as an island, and refiners in California and Washington face unique market pressures even in the best of times. Geographic isolation, unique gasoline and diesel specifications, and greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction regulations including the federal Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard...
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Buying in the Dip

August 26, 2020 ,

August 26, 2020 By Kendra Seymour By now, it’s no secret that the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic and the ensuing quarantine culture has had serious effects on transportation fuels markets as people are traveling by car and by plane much less frequently. These effects are likely to linger for some time, but eventually life will return to a new...
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As California Burns, Diesel Trucks Clean the Air

August 25, 2020 ,

August 25, 2020 By Gary Yowell For the past week, dozens of lightning-induced wildfires have raged in California, resulting in unhealthy, smoke-laden air. The air quality is so poor that it has exceeded particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5) ambient air quality standards. PM10 is smoke that can be trapped on a 10-micron filter, PM2.5 is even smaller smoke particles that...
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Flash Report: 1Q2020 LCFS Data Show Nearly 460,000 MT Draw on the Credit Bank

July 31, 2020 ,

July 31, 2020 Today, CARB posted the first quarter 2020 data for the LCFS program. The 1Q2020 report gives us insight into the credit bank situation as stay-at-home orders went into place due to COVID-19. In today’s flash report, we offer a quick look at the first-quarter data. Our comprehensive analysis will be published in Stillwater’s Quarterly LCFS Newsletter which...
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How Does California’s New Advanced Clean Trucks Rule Affect Diesel Demand?

July 13, 2020 ,

July 13, 2020 By Gary Yowell On June 25, 2020, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) adopted the Advanced Clean Trucks (ACT) rule which seeks to accelerate the adoption of zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs) in the medium-and heavy-duty truck sector and reduce harmful emissions generated from on-road mobile sources. Medium- and heavy-duty vehicles include the largest and heaviest pickup trucks and...
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The Search for Zero

July 6, 2020 , ,

July 6, 2020 By Adam Schubert A number of Stillwater’s clients come to us with questions concerning ethanol-free gasoline (E0).  These questions include items such as: Who uses E0 and why? How much E0 is being sold and where? What are the economics behind the product? In this article, we provide brief answers to those questions and more. Before diving...
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A Peek at Stillwater’s Office-less Culture

May 6, 2020 ,

May 6, 2020 by Megan Boutwell  In 1998, Dave Hackett started doing some consulting work out of his home office. For most of his career in transportation energy, Dave commuted from various homes in California, Connecticut, Virginia, and (again and finally) California to Mobil Oil offices in Los Angeles, Manhattan, Fairfax, back to Manhattan, and Long Beach. For his new...
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Post-Coronavirus: What’s Next in the Environmental Commodities Markets

April 30, 2020 , ,

On April 30th, 2020, Stillwater President Dave Hackett participated in a webinar hosted by Parhelion Underwriting on the topic of how the fallout from COVID-19 will affect environmental commodities. Dave spoke about the federal Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) and California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) credit markets. To view a PDF version of Dave’s slide deck, click here.

What’s going on with crude? An internal Stillwater conversation in real-time as oil prices plummeted

April 21, 2020 ,

April 21, 2020 By Kendra Seymour As editor of Stillwater’s LCFS Newsletter and a contributor on many of Stillwater’s LCFS-related client projects, I spend most of my time working in renewables markets. Yesterday, as crude markets began showing particularly rare volatility, however, I caught up with my colleague Barry Schaps via Slack to get a better understanding of what was...
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COVID-19 and the LCFS: Groundhog Day

April 15, 2020 , ,

April 15, 2020 By Leigh Noda For the past month, the Stillwater LCFS team has been publishing regular reports on how COVID-19 is affecting the LCFS program and the fuels markets governed by the program. This is the latest of that series. You can read our previous updates here. Want to receive updates like this and other in-depth analysis of the...
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Rebalancing Refinery Jet Production for Covid-19 – How Low Can You Go?

April 15, 2020 ,

April 14, 2020 By Adam Schubert For U.S. refiners, profitability is tightly linked to production of the three major “light” petroleum fuel products – gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel. Individual refineries are typically configured to optimize the yield of these three products with the most economical crudes available in their region and demand in accessible markets. Relative demand for the...
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COVID-19 and the LCFS: Ain’t No Sunshine

April 6, 2020 , ,

April 3, 2020 Note: The title of today’s analysis pays tribute to onetime Navy aircraft mechanic and three-time Grammy Award winner Bill Withers who died March 30th. As AP reporter Mark Kennedy observed, Withers’ “death comes as the public has drawn inspiration from his music during the coronavirus pandemic, with health care workers, choirs, artists and more posting their own renditions on...
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COVID-19’s Economic Impacts on the LNG Market

March 11, 2020 ,

March 11, 2020 By John Wolff Worldwide natural gas markets are unsettled by the current and plausible impacts of the COVID-19 virus.  There has been a widely reported reduction in Chinese crude oil and products demand as auto travel, commercial deliveries, and airline flights have been reduced. The likely duration of the economic impacts is not clearly understood at present....
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Food for Thought: Overly Aggressive NOx Reduction Has Delayed California’s Ozone Attainment by 15 Years

February 12, 2020 , ,

February 12, 2020 By Gary Yowell The California Air Resources Board (CARB) has a long and proud history of ambitious reductions to air pollution which CARB deems necessary to meet ambient air quality standards. Continuing this 50-year trend, CARB is considering reducing its heavy-duty vehicles’ nitrogen oxides (NOx) standard by 90%. This new NOx standard[1] would require extensive and expensive...
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IMO 2020: No Large Speed Bump Thus Far

February 11, 2020 , ,

February 11, 2020 By Ralph Grimmer Over the past three years, Stillwater Associates has offered a series of articles on various aspects of IMO 2020. The long-awaited IMO 2020 regulations were implemented on January 1, 2020 – 40 days ago. In this article, we will provide our takeaways on how the initial rollout has gone, a recap of strategies/tactics that...
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Flash Report: 3Q2019 LCFS Data Show a Continued Slowing Trend in Net Deficits

February 3, 2020 ,

February 3, 2020 On January 31st, 2020 CARB posted the third quarter of 2019 data for the LCFS program. In today’s flash report, we offer a quick look at the third-quarter data. Our comprehensive analysis will be published in Stillwater’s Quarterly LCFS Newsletter which is scheduled to be published on February 14th. The third-quarter data shows a slowing of the...
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95 RON Gasoline and the Political CAFE Ping-Pong Game

January 15, 2020 , , , ,

January 15, 2020 By Ron Pike In an effort to further reduce hydrocarbon consumption in the U.S., 95 RON (Research Octane Number) gasoline has been suggested as a way to help achieve proposed higher corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) requirements. A higher RON allows an internal combustion engine to run at a higher compression ratio, achieve more power, and, therefore,...
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An Updated Guide to EPA’s Tier 3 Gasoline Sulfur Standards

January 5, 2020 , , , , ,

January 5, 2020 by Mike Leister and E.J. Ledet Effective January 1, 2017, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) began requiring all U.S. gasoline to meet an annual 10 parts per million (ppm) average sulfur requirement as part of its new Tier 3 vehicle and fuel regulations. (Stillwater wrote a quick guide to Tier 3 back then, and it’s still...
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Sustainable Aviation Fuel – the key to CORSIA compliance

November 21, 2019 ,

November 21, 2019 By Megan Boutwell Last month we looked at how CORSIA, the International Civil Aviation Organization’s (ICAO) carbon offsetting and reduction scheme for international aviation, is being implemented. The rule is currently in the baseline development phase and won’t be mandatory for international flights until 2027. This international rule is one pillar in a larger strategy set forth...
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2Q2019 LCFS Data – Insights into the Future of Clean Fuels Programs

November 15, 2019 ,

November 15, 2019 By Leigh Noda On October 31st, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) released the data reported by fuel-reporting Entities into the Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) Reporting Tool (LRT) through the second quarter of 2019. Stillwater has analyzed the data and included our analysis in our Second Quarter 2019 LCFS Newsletter (subscription required). In this article, we...
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Flash Report: 2Q2019 LCFS Data Show Slowing Drawdown of Credit Bank

November 4, 2019 ,

November 1, 2019 On October 31st, CARB posted the second quarter of 2019 data for the LCFS program. In today’s flash report, we offer a quick look at the data. Our comprehensive analysis will be published in Stillwater’s Quarterly LCFS Newsletter which is scheduled to be published on November 14th. The second quarter data show credits growing more than deficits...
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CORSIA – How are we going to police international aviation emissions?

October 24, 2019 , ,

October 24, 2019 By Megan Boutwell As we explained in our CORSIA 101 article a few months back, the goal of CORSIA – the International Civil Aviation Organization’s (ICAO) carbon offsetting and reduction scheme for international aviation – is to cap carbon emissions from international aviation at 2020 levels. In many ways, this United Nations effort to reduce emissions in...
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The Ultimate E-Ticket: California Gasoline Prices*

October 22, 2019 , ,

October 22, 2019 By Dave Hackett On Monday, October 21, my friends at the California Energy Commission (CEC) released “Additional Analysis on Gasoline Prices in California.” This report is a follow-on to a May 2019 report that had been requested by Governor Gavin Newsom. Both reports examine why California gasoline prices are higher than the rest of the country. These...
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How Accurate are VMT Estimates?

October 5, 2019 , , ,

October 15, 2019 By Gary Yowell Estimating vehicle miles traveled (VMT) has important implications for analyzing and forecasting transportation fuel use and carbon dioxide CO2 emissions. VMT estimates are frequently used as the foundation for transportation fuel use analyses and forecasts. This practice should be carefully examined, especially given the four widely varying VMT estimates found for the same historic...
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Where were you when Saudi Aramco was attacked?

September 26, 2019 , ,

September 25, 2019 by Simoon Cannon The recent bombing of the Saudi Arabian Abqaiq gas-oil separation processing plant on September 14th sparked a frenzy of conversations among oil and gas professionals. Wall Street wanted to know how this geopolitical event would affect the price of crude oil, whether it would become a macroeconomic nightmare for the demand and supply balance...
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Why Aren’t Refiners Recovering Stationary Source Cap & Trade Costs?

September 20, 2019 , ,

September 20, 2019 by Jeff Kennedy “The more things change, the more they stay the same.” I’m sitting here on a Friday afternoon, contemplating just how true that old adage is. More than 25 years ago, before Stillwater was launched and before the ExxonMobil merger, I was with Mobil West Coast Supply in Long Beach working with many of the...
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2019 West Coast Harbor Safety Committee Summit Presentation on IMO 2020

September 19, 2019 , , ,

On September 19th, Stillwater Senior Associate Ralph Grimmer presented at the 2019 West Coast Harbor Safety Committee Summit on the Queen Mary off the coast of Long Beach. The summit was sponsored by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Office of Spill Prevention and Response (OSPR) and the Pacific States/British Columbia Oil Spill Task Force. Ralph spoke about the...
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Clean Marine Fuel in 2020: An Opportunity for Biofuel?

September 1, 2019 , ,

September 1, 2019 by Mike Newman of Parhelion Underwriting  2018 saw the shipping industry take its first steps towards addressing the challenge of climate change when, at its 72nd session in April, IMO’s Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) adopted an initial strategy to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from shipping by at least 50% by 2050. The United Nations body...
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How Do ZEV Emissions Stack Up Against Super-Clean Gasoline and Diesel Engines?

August 21, 2019 , , ,

August 21, 2019 by Gary Yowell In 1990, California adopted the Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) Mandate designed to help achieve the state’s long-term emissions reduction goals by requiring manufacturers to sell specific quantities of battery-electric, fuel cell, and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. The ZEV mandate has seen several modifications over the past three decades, and now there is a growing...
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Parhelion’s new LCFS Insurance

August 1, 2019 ,

Several years ago, Parhelion introduced the Platinum Carbon Credit invalidation™ insurance product to the California Cap & Trade market and followed up with the Platinum RINs invalidation™ insurance policy for the U.S. Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) earlier this year. They have now entered another environmental commodity market – California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS). We, at Stillwater, thought our readers...
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IMO 2020: Current Futures Prices and Refiner Processing Options

June 26, 2019 ,

June 27, 2019 By Ralph Grimmer IMO 2020 implementation is six months away, and shipowners will likely start purchasing IMO 2020-compliant marine fuel (for vessels without onboard scrubbers) in the next three months. Stillwater Associates has offered a series of articles on various aspects of IMO 2020 over the past two years. In this month’s article, we provide an update...
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California Gasoline Prices – Part 2

June 26, 2019 ,

June 26, 2019 By Dave Hackett Last month, I wrote about spot California gasoline prices and promised to write about California retail gasoline prices this month. As explained by my Petroleum Market Advisory Committee (PMAC) colleague, Professor Severin Borenstein, the retail gasoline prices in this state are higher than the U.S. average, even after deducting California’s high taxes and fees....
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Knee-High by the Fourth of July?

June 22, 2019

June 22, 2019 By Adam Schubert Rising gasoline prices are making headlines, and though there are many forces at work, one of those contributing factors isn’t receiving the same buzz as others. Corn farmers are facing incredible challenges this year, creating upward pressure on ethanol prices which in-turn increase the prices of the final, blended gasoline. Stillwater is tracking the...
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A Look at Oregon’s First Credit Clearance Market

June 20, 2019

June 20, 2019 By Jim Mladenik On May 31st, the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) issued a statement explaining the need for a Credit Clearance Market (CCM) to enable deficit holders in the Clean Fuels Program (CFP) to balance their accounts for the 2018 calendar year. Six entities (ARS Fresno, Conrad & Bischoff, Costco, Pilot, Pounder Oil Service, and...
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California Gasoline Prices

May 28, 2019 ,

May 28, 2019 By Dave Hackett Stillwater has been writing about California gasoline prices for a long time. Because gasoline prices on the West Coast, and in California in particular, tend to be volatile toward the upside, this issue always gets the attention of consumers and politicians. Our first engagement to look at this subject came from the California Energy...
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LCFS Credit and Price Trends

April 25, 2019 ,

On April 24, 2019, Stillwater’s VP of Operations, Megan Boutwell, presented Stillwater’s analysis of California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) credit and price trends at the North American Carbon World (NACW) Conference in Los Angeles. You can view a PDF of Megan’s presentation here. Want LCFS news, data, and exclusive expert analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox? Subscribe to our...
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Breaking down California’s gasoline price spike

April 17, 2019 ,

April 17, 2019 By Kendra Seymour California’s gasoline prices consistently outpace average pump prices across the U.S., but in the past month, Californians have experienced an average price increase of roughly 60 cents per gallon, spiking the Golden State’s fuel prices even higher than usual, as you can see in the chart from GasBuddy, below. What’s going on here? Why...
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California’s Fossil Fuel “Sin Tax”

April 16, 2019 ,

April 16, 2019 By John Faulstich With the recent increase in gasoline prices in California (the retail gas price average just bumped up over $4 per gallon) and renewed interest in this subject, we thought it timely to present an overview of the major components of what goes into the price of gasoline at the pump. The U.S. Energy Information...
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How the Midwest bomb cyclone could impact gasoline prices throughout the U.S.

April 8, 2019

April 8, 2019 By Barry Schaps Whoever heard of a bomb cyclone weather event? In case you haven’t, here’s the rundown: A bomb cyclone is the rapid development of a “cyclonic low-pressure area” which occurs most frequently in marine environments in the winter months but can occur in continental settings and at other times of the year. Residents and farmers...
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IMO 2020: How Will the Marketplace Value New Compliant Marine Fuels?

March 20, 2019 , ,

March 20, 2019 By Jim Mladenik & Ralph Grimmer Over the past two years, Stillwater Associates has offered a series of articles on various aspects of IMO 2020. Implementation of IMO 2020 is now less than ten months away. In this article, we will provide information on data sources providing visibility to spot and futures prices for IMO 2020-compliant blends...
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California’s LCFS Solution Gets National Stage Time in Canada

March 15, 2019

Stillwater has written a lot about the California Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) program over the years, and we even publish a one-of-a-kind LCFS Newsletter covering California’s program. We’ve also reported on Oregon’s Clean Fuels Program (CFP) from its inception in 2016. Now, we turn to Canada’s under-construction Clean Fuel Standard (CFS) which aims to reduce Canada’s greenhouse gas (GHG)...
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Sustainable Aviation Fuels Prepare for Takeoff in Washington State

March 13, 2019 , ,

March 13, 2019 By Kendra Seymour My colleagues Megan Boutwell, Jim Mladenik, and I attended the first-ever Washington Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF) Summit last week in Seattle. The summit was hosted by Earth Day Northwest 2020 and presented by Boeing, Alaska Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and the Port of Seattle. Washington Governor and U.S. Presidential Candidate Jay Inslee even made...
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CORSIA 101 – A Beginner’s Guide

February 20, 2019 , ,

What is CORSIA? CORSIA (the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation) is a program administered by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) with a goal of capping CO2 (carbon) emissions from international aviation at 2020 levels. A future goal is to reduce net carbon emissions fifty percent by 2050 compared to 2005 levels. Carbon emissions from domestic aviation...
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Water Management in the Downstream

February 20, 2019

February 20, 2019 by E.J. Ledet Water contamination incidents in the transportation fuels supply chain can have a dramatic effect on fuel quality. Fortunately, such incidents can be prevented with the implementation of proper water-management procedures. In this article, we identify the common water contamination issues along the downstream fuels supply chain and offer helpful checklists to avoid contamination incidents....
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U.S. LNG Bunkering Implementation and Safety Practices

February 1, 2019 ,

February 1, 2019 By John Wolff On December 4, 2018, the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) hosted its 2018 Liquefied Gas Senior Executive Forum in Houston. The program was co-sponsored by the Society of International Gas Tanker and Terminal Operators (SIGGTO) and the Society of Gas as a Marine Fuel (SGMF). The forum’s speakers addressed many aspects of using LNG as...
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Webinar: IMO 2020 and the Sulphur/Sulphuric Acid Markets

January 16, 2019 , ,

Acuity Commodities has partnered with Stillwater Associates to model three scenarios reflecting implementation of new International Maritime Organization (IMO) marine fuel rule from January 1, 2020, when the maximum sulphur content in bunker fuel oil has to be reduced to 0.50%. With the IMO 2020 implementation deadline unlikely to be postponed and less than 12 months away, sulphur and acid...
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LNG Bunkering in U.S. Ports: Change is Coming

December 23, 2018

By John Wolff, Senior Associate Image: KLAW LNG Liquefied natural gas (LNG) can be used as a fuel for ships (and trucks and buses) with specially designed fuel tanks. Currently, few U.S.- and foreign-flagged vessels are fueled with LNG, although that number may increase with the coming IMO 2020 regulation. U.S. officials have historically treated LNG with extreme caution in...
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A Look Ahead: The Long Term LCFS Credit Price

December 14, 2018 ,

On December 13, 2018, Stillwater Senior Associate Leigh Noda participated as a panelist at the OPIS LCFS & Carbon Markets Workshop in San Francisco. The panelists were asked to address: “What exactly will the long-term price of the LCFS credit look like? As the LCFS program heads into 2020 and beyond, what products will produce the most credits?” Leigh weighed in...
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Moving Renewable Fuels to Market: U.S. Infrastructure

December 10, 2018

On December 10, 2018, Dave Hackett provided a presentation on U.S. renewable fuels transportation infrastructure to a joint government and industry working group. This presentation explains how ethanol and biodiesel are moved from renewable fuels production centers to markets where they are blended with petroleum products for retail sale. You can view a PDF of Dave’s presentation here.

The Problem of Invalidated RINs in the Renewable Fuel Standard

November 14, 2018 ,

November 14, 2018 by Mike Newman of Parhelion Underwriting Under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) imposed a “buyer beware” approach to the purchase and sale of Renewable Identification Numbers (RINs). This creates a liability for any buyer of RINs, making them responsible for purchases of invalid RINS, even if done inadvertently.[1] The liability includes the...
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West Coast Crude Oil Supply

November 1, 2018

November 1, 2018 by David Hackett Last month, our friends at RBN Energy held a conference in Houston (of course) to bring together people interested in the development of crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids from the Permian Basin in West Texas. Figure 1. Crude-Producing Regions in the United States Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration The Permian has...
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IMO 2020: A presentation to the U.S. Coast Guard and Shell

October 31, 2018 ,

On October 31st, 2018, Stillwater Senior Associate Ralph Grimmer presented comments on IMO 2020 – the International Maritime Organization’s mandated reduction in the maximum sulfur content of marine fuel (bunker fuel oil) from 3.5% to 0.5% on January 1, 2020 – at the U.S. Coast Guard/Shell “Navigating the Future” Seminar in Martinez, California. IMO 2020 will have a significant impact on the shipping and...
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Has California Gasoline Demand Peaked?

October 17, 2018 ,

October 17, 2018 by Dave Hackett Stillwater is often asked to provide forecasts for petroleum demand. Clients use these forecasts to understand how the market is likely to change. For the last four or five years, we have predicted a drop in gasoline demand, mostly driven by cars and light-duty trucks getting better gas mileage as the result of the...
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California Carbon Info: Future Supply and Demand of California Carbon Offsets

October 17, 2018

As the passage of AB 398 has strengthened and extended California’s Cap and Trade program, we think our readers will benefit from a spotlight on the trends in the carbon credit market. As such, we periodically feature guest articles on California’s Cap and Trade program from our friends at CaliforniaCarbon.info. CaliforniaCarbon.info is a comprehensive information service covering the Western Climate Initiative...
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War Story: “Go figure it out”

October 15, 2018 , , , ,

by Brian Conroy When Stillwater Associate Brian Conroy worked for BP in 2006 as Global Sales and Market Development Manager of Specialty Chemicals, he was offered an opportunity to try something new. With a background in chemicals, beginning in research and progressing to various roles in business, he was ready for the change. BP’s CEO had mandated the launch of...
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War Story: California’s Lengthy Multi-Media Evaluation Process

September 12, 2018 , , ,

September 12, 2018 By Jessica Loomis Twenty years ago, methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) was a common additive used to oxygenate and raise the octane number in gasoline, but when incidents of MTBE leaking occurred from underground storage tanks at gas stations in California, groundwater contamination became a growing issue. MTBE isn’t particularly toxic, but its taste and odor can render...
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