News

Projecting the Costs of California’s Cap & Trade and Low Carbon Fuel Standard Programs

July 25, 2018 , ,

July 25, 2018 By Jim Mladenik and Kendra Seymour Showing the line-item cost to consumers of carbon-reduction programs assists legislators in crafting effective policy and helps fuel consumers make informed decisions. To that end, Stillwater’s carbon policy team recently conducted an analysis of the potential impact of California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) and Carbon Cap & Trade (C&T) programs...
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Expected Pricing and Economic Impacts of the IMO 2020 Rule

July 10, 2018 , ,

July 11, 2018 by Ralph Grimmer The International Maritime Organization (IMO) will make a significant change to the maximum allowed sulfur content of marine fuel consumed on open oceans beginning January 1, 2020. This global change (via IMO revision of its MARPOL VI rule) was triggered by an IMO decision in 2008. Over the past year, Stillwater Associates has offered...
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Bio-Isobutanol – Overview and Challenges 

July 8, 2018 , ,

July 8, 2018 by Adam Schubert  On June 12th, 2018 the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it had granted to Butamax Advanced Biofuels, LLC (Butamax) registration of blends of up to 16 volume percent (vol%) isobutanol in gasoline. Prior to granting this registration, EPA took the unusual step of seeking public comment due to, as EPA put it, the significant possibility that such isobutanol-gasoline blends had the potential for widespread use.   Overview  Butamax and its competitor, Gevo, have...
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LCFS Successes and Challenges

June 20, 2018 , ,

On June 19, 2018, Stillwater’s President, Dave Hackett, participated as a panel member in an informational hearing on the Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) held by the California State Assembly’s Select Committee on California’s Energy Future. The panel included an overview of the LCFS offered by the Legislative Analyst’s Office followed by comments from regulated parties and interested stakeholders. Dave...
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IMO 2020 & Crude Slate Pricing: Choose Your Own Adventure

June 5, 2018 , ,

June 5, 2018 by Kendra Seymour Contributors: James Ahrens, John Faulstich, Ralph Grimmer, Jim Mladenik, and Arshad Sheikh Let’s go back in time, to the late 1970s when sulfur regulations for fuel oil were less stringent and heavy San Joaquin Valley (SJV) crude was priced extremely low. This SJV was often minimally processed then dumped into the bunker fuel market...
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California Carbon Info: Regulatory Round-up – Informal Workshop on Potential Amendments to Cap-and-Trade Regulation

May 15, 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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LCFS 101 – An Update

May 2, 2018 , ,

May 2, 2018 by Megan Boutwell A lot has happened since we wrote our first LCFS 101 article last year. Here we provide an update on the rules and the status of the credit market. What is the LCFS California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard is one of a group of programs designed to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions enacted through...
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The Trans Mountain Tangle

May 2, 2018 , , ,

May 2, 2018 by Stillwater Staff There’s a battle brewing between two provinces in Canada over a pipeline, and it may cause transportation fuels prices to spike at least in the short-term. Here we offer the backstory to get you up-to-date. In 2013, Kinder Morgan filed an application with the Canadian National Energy Board to essentially twin the existing 1,150...
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Stillwater Celebrates 20 Years

May 1, 2018

May 1, 2018 by Jessica Loomis During the week of April 16th, Stillwater Associates met in beautiful Laguna Beach, California for our Annual Meeting. Associates came from all over the country to get caught up on the state of the business, share ideas, and get re-acquainted. This year was particularly special because Stillwater Associates is celebrating 20 years of being...
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IMO 2020: A Sea Change is Coming

April 25, 2018 ,

On April 24, 2018, at The Sulphur Institute’s Sulphur World Symposium in Philadelphia, 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. Ralph’s presentation offers an IMO 2020 overview, a look at the perspectives of...
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Carbon Capture and Utilization for Enhanced Oil Recovery

March 28, 2018

March 28, 2018 By Dave Hackett Buzz-word phrases like Carbon Capture and Storage, its sister concept Carbon Capture and Utilization, Enhanced Oil Recovery, and “Clean Coal” have been gaining air time in conversations among oil industry experts and policymakers. Stillwater has done work in the CCU space. In fact, Stillwater Energy Group – a subsidiary of Stillwater Associates – has...
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Impact of Fuels Regulations on Bio-Processors

March 21, 2018

On March 20, 2018, Stillwater’s president Dave Hackett presented comments on the impact of fuels regulations on bio-processors at the Bio-Processing Leadership Summit in Sonoma, California. You can view a PDF of Dave’s presentation here.

War Stories: A Case for Due Diligence

March 20, 2018 ,

March 20, 2018 By Jessica Loomis In 1997, Stillwater Senior Associate Jeff Kennedy found himself living in California after several decades of moving around the country working for Mobil Oil. Following a much-needed break, Jeff met a convincing “self-styled serial entrepreneur” who we will call “Mr. X.” At the time, Mr. X was consulting with a start-up company working to...
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Upcoming Changes to the Renewable Fuel Standard and Potential Impacts

March 13, 2018 ,

March 13, 2018 At the 2018 AFPM Annual Meeting, Stillwater Associate Mike Leister offered a presentation analyzing the changes that EPA is making to the RFS in 2018. He examined the reasons for these changes and their likely impact on renewable biofuels and the various RIN markets. Mike also discussed the projected status of the RIN banks at the end of 2017 and through 2018. Finally, Mike...
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FLASH ANALYSIS: CARB’s Latest LCFS Rulemaking – Are the goalposts moving?

February 22, 2018 , ,

February 22, 2018 On February 20th, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) released Unofficial LCFS Rulemaking Documents for public review. These proposed amendments will be considered at a CARB Board hearing in April 2018 and voted on at a second hearing in mid-to-late 2018. In the past, CARB has released draft rulemaking documentation before public workshops, but this release –...
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IMO 2020 Part 5: Enforcement

February 15, 2018 ,

February 15, 2018 By Ralph Grimmer The International Maritime Organization (IMO) is moving forward with a marked reduction in the maximum sulfur content of marine fuel (bunker fuel oil) from 3.5% to 0.5% on January 1, 2020. In the first four articles of our series on this “IMO 2020 Rule,” Stillwater provided an overview of the rule followed by assessments...
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California Carbon Info: Analysis of CCO usage for 2016 compliance obligation

February 10, 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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The Cost of Premium

February 9, 2018 ,

February 9, 2018 By David Hackett Stillwater Associates is often retained to analyze markets. Currently, we have a project for the Fuels Institute to look at the demand for higher octane gasoline in the future.  This analysis is driven by the growing demand for higher octane gasolines that cars increasingly need to maximize the performance of their turbocharged engines. In...
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Policy trends we’ll be watching in 2018

January 17, 2018

January 15, 2018 By Megan Boutwell Stillwater’s transportation energy policy experts closely follow federal, state, and international policy developments and their impacts on industry and consumers. As 2018 begins, there are a number of policy trends that we will be following and for which we’ll provide expertise to clients. The following are of some of the biggest policy trends we...
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What’s New in California’s Final 2017 Climate Change Scoping Plan?

January 17, 2018 , ,

January 10, 2018 By Miriam Stern Last month, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) approved the final version of California’s 2017 Climate Change Scoping Plan, a blueprint for reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions (GHGs), bolstering clean energy, and improving air quality. We previously summarized the proposed Scoping Plan (drafted early last year), and, while the overall framework in the final plan...
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IMO 2020 Part 4: Bunker Suppliers’ and Blenders’ Perspective

January 15, 2018 , ,

January 15, 2018     By Ralph Grimmer of Stillwater Associates, and Adrian Tolson of 20|20 Marine Energy The International Maritime Organization (IMO) is moving forward with a marked reduction from 3.5% to 0.5% in the maximum sulfur content of marine fuel (bunker fuel oil) on January 1, 2020. In our November 2017 newsletter, Stillwater provided Part 3 of our...
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Stillwater’s View of the California Low Carbon Fuel Standard

January 9, 2018

At a January 9, 2018, public hearing in the Washington State House Committee on Environment, Stillwater president Dave Hackett presented comments on HB 2338, an act relating to reducing greenhouse gas emissions associated with transportation fuels by introducing an LCFS program in that state. You can view a PDF of Dave’s presentation here and a video of the panel here. Want LCFS news, data,...
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The Hidden Taxes in Gasoline and Diesel Prices

December 12, 2017

In the first quarter of 2017, CARB reported the first quarter of net deficits generated in the program. As the carbon intensity standards become more stringent, the demand for LCFS credits will increase significantly in 2018 and continue into 2019 and 2020. The credit bank that has built up will be drawn down, causing the price of LCFS credits to...
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IMO 2020 Part 3:  Refiners’ Perspective

November 16, 2017 , ,

November 16, 2017 by Ralph Grimmer, James Ahrens, and Leigh Noda The International Maritime Organization (IMO) is moving forward with a marked reduction from 3.5% to 0.5% in the maximum sulfur content of marine fuel (bunker fuel oil) on January 1, 2020. In our October newsletter, Stillwater provided Part 2 of our series on this “IMO 2020 Rule”, focusing on...
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War Story: Operation Iron Lady

November 15, 2017 ,

November 15, 2017 By Jessica Loomis In February of 1991, Senior Associate Leigh Noda was working for ARCO as the manager of business and technology in ARCO’s flagship refinery in Carson, California. One afternoon, the refinery’s manager called Leigh into his office with a very special project. Ronald Reagan was turning 80 years old, and the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library...
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Update: How much “Ethanol-Free” gasoline is out there?

November 13, 2017

November 11, 2017 By David Hackett, President Last year, we at Stillwater offered a review of the state of ethanol-free (or E0) gasoline in the U.S. Since then, we’ve learned a great deal about the market which we will share in this updated article. We start with some background: The Federal Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) requires increasing levels of renewable...
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California Carbon Info: California Emissions Decline Faster than Cap in 2016

November 6, 2017 , , , ,

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. We will be featuring 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: Under Pressure

October 11, 2017 ,

October 11, 2017 By Jessica Loomis In the late 1990s, Stillwater Senior Associate James Ahrens was working in the crude oil supply, trading, and transportation division at Mobil as a supply optimization coordinator for the Beaumont refinery. The fuels crude unit at the refinery typically ran a slate of heavy sour crude oil that left the top of the atmospheric...
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IMO 2020 Part 2: Shipowners’ Perspective

October 11, 2017 , ,

October 12, 2017 by Ralph Grimmer and Michael Myers Stillwater is following the progress and impact of the International Maritime Organization’s Global Maximum Sulfur Content of Marine Fuel Rule, or IMO 2020. Our first article, IMO 2020 Part 1: The evolution of the marine sulfur regulation, appeared on the website in September 2017.  The International Maritime Organization (IMO) is moving...
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Jones Act 101: Maritime protectionism and transportation fuels

October 10, 2017 , ,

October 10, 2017 by Kendra Seymour As often happens in the aftermath of natural disasters, there has been increased coverage in the last month debating the merits of a 97-year-old law which affects delivery of goods to U.S. shores. You’ve likely heard talk about the Jones Act, but do you know what it is and how it affects disaster-struck areas...
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Steel Tank Conference Presentation

September 28, 2017

Stillwater Associate Barry Schaps’ presentation at the STI/SPFA conference on September 27, 2017. This presentation explains the transportation fuels supply chain, outlines the impact of the U.S. shale boom on supply and demand, and discusses the changing regulatory landscape. You can download a copy of his presentation here.

After the Deluge: Gasoline supply constraints following Harvey and Irma

September 14, 2017

September 13, 2017 Our hearts go out to our friends and colleagues in Texas and Florida as they start to rebuild after the destruction from Hurricanes Harvey and Irma. Stillwater’s Houston-area associates were able to weather Hurricane Harvey in good shape, managing to stay safe and dry while helping their neighbors. According to Barry Schaps, the official rain gauge nearest...
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IMO 2020 Part 1: The evolution of the marine sulfur regulation

September 14, 2017 , ,

September 13, 2017 by Ralph Grimmer Stillwater is following the progress and impact of the International Maritime Organization’s Global Maximum Sulfur Content of Marine Fuel Rule, or IMO 2020. This is our first article in the series. Our second article, IMO 2020 Part 2: Shipowners’ Perspective, appeared on the website in October 2017.  The International Maritime Organization (IMO) is moving...
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California Carbon Info: Analyzing California’s offset demand

September 13, 2017 , , , ,

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. Starting this month, we will be featuring guest articles on California’s Cap and Trade program from our friends at CaliforniaCarbon.info. CaliforniaCarbon.info is a comprehensive information service covering the...
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What the Frack is Happening in Colorado? A Look Inside Colorado’s Hydraulic Fracking Phenomenon

July 12, 2017 ,

July 12, 2017 By Jessica Loomis The word “fracking” is as tied to the state of Colorado these days as “skiing”, “mountains” and “snow”. Fracking is the process of drilling vertically or horizontally far below the surface to inject water, sand. and chemicals at a very high pressure into rocks that are believed to have crude oil and natural gas...
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The RFS Point of Obligation Part 3: Will moving the point of obligation significantly increase the use of renewable fuels?

July 12, 2017 ,

July 12, 2017 by Michael Leister As we continue our RFS Point of Obligation series, we look at the RIN obligations calculated in the simple example last month using 100,000 gallons of gasoline and 50,000 gallons of diesel, we need to remember typical refineries produce much larger volumes of these products.  A typical refinery processes around 150,000 barrels per day...
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War Stories: The Crisis of Hurricane Katrina

July 12, 2017

July 12, 2017 By Jessica Loomis In August 2005, Stillwater Associate Barry Schaps was working for Shell Oil Company as the General Manager of Supply Planning and Logistics. At the time, Barry’s son was getting ready to begin his first year at Tulane University in New Orleans, so Barry and his family were in town for the school’s freshman orientation....
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Forecasting LCFS Credit Prices

June 22, 2017 ,

Dave Hackett’s presentation to CARB’s June 22, 2017 board meeting. Dave provided comments to the board on the forecasted rising LCFS cost, or hidden tax, in gasoline and diesel price. This analysis first appeared in Stillwater’s June 2017 Monthly LCFS Newsletter. You can download a copy of the presentation here. Want LCFS news, data, and exclusive expert analysis delivered to your e-mail...
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War Stories: Leigh Noda’s Advice that Can’t be Erased

June 7, 2017 ,

June 7, 2017 by Jessica Loomis In 1972, young Leigh Noda had just begun his career as a refinery engineer with Atlantic Richfield Company. It would be the beginning of a 28-year long journey with the company, but as a young man just starting out, Leigh felt overwhelmed and in awe of the Operations Supervisor whom he worked for as...
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The RFS Point of Obligation Part 2: How are RINs generated and RFS compliance achieved?

June 6, 2017 , ,

June 6, 2017 by Michael Leister Last month in the first edition in our RFS Point of Obligation series, we discussed the general RFS rules, this month we get more specific about RIN generation and RFS Compliance.  When a renewable fuel producer like an ethanol production facility or biomass-based diesel manufacturing plant produces a compliant renewable fuel, the renewable fuel...
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California’s 2030 Scoping Plan: Changes for the Transportation Fuels Sector

June 6, 2017 , ,

June 6, 2017 by Kendra Seymour Introduction Last week President Trump withdrew the U.S. from the historic Paris Climate Agreement, signaling a lack of commitment at the federal level to combatting climate change. Many states, municipalities, and companies, however, have voiced continued support for the Paris Agreement and have affirmed their intention to fulfill the tenets of the Agreement. Sub-national...
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RFS Point of Obligation Part 1: How Does the RFS Work?

May 16, 2017 , ,

May 1, 2017 by Michael Leister For the past year or more, there has been a lot of discussion in the transportation fuels industry on moving the current Renewable Fuels Standard 2 (RFS2) point of obligation to the point where rack blending occurs. Currently the point of obligation is with refiners and importers, however the RINs for RFS compliance are...
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IMO 2020: The Next Big Thing for the Oil Supply Chain

May 16, 2017 ,

May 1, 2017 by David Hackett The term “oil supply chain” is a way to describe the activities that are required to produce crude oil out of the ground, move it to the refinery, transform the crude oil into fuel, and move the fuel to consumers.  The chief air pollutant in crude oil is sulfur. Governments and industry have been...
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The ripple effects of the gasoline tax increase

April 24, 2017 ,

April 24, 2017 By Rob Nikolewski, The San Diego Union-Tribune In an indication of just how much California is affected by gasoline prices, at least three different groups on Monday weighed in on the ramifications of Senate Bill 1, the $52.4 billion effort passed by Gov. Jerry Brown and the Legislature earlier this month. One organization that concentrates on policy solutions...
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A Closer Look: Integrated Majors Breaking Up with their Refineries

February 28, 2017 ,

February 28, 2017 by Jessica Loomis In recent years, several major integrated oil companies have sold off certain refineries they own because they don’t believe they are positioned to be core to their current business practices. We thought it would be interesting to examine some of these large companies as they continue to turn their focus to upstream assets, and...
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LCFS 101 – A Beginner’s Guide

February 28, 2017 ,

February 28, 2017 by Megan Boutwell Not too long ago a friend checked in looking for an LCFS tutorial. Based on that request we decided to put together a handy dandy LCFS guide. We could go on for days about this stuff, but we’ll show a little discipline and just give you the high points. The LCFS can seem like...
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Gasolinazo! What’s going on with gasoline prices in Mexico?

January 26, 2017 ,

January 26, 2017 by David Hackett The recent rise in gasoline prices in Mexico has driven significant unrest early this month. However, north of the border (where gasoline prices are higher than they were last summer), they are still cheap. What’s going on in Mexico? There are several factors contributing to the crisis. The Mexican government still sets the annual...
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Tier 3: A quick guide to the EPA’s new gasoline sulfur standards

January 19, 2017 ,

January 17, 2017 by EJ Ledet and Mike Leister Effective January 1, 2017, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) began requiring all U.S. gasoline to meet an annual 10 ppm average sulfur requirement as part of their new Tier 3 vehicle and fuel regulations. The 10 ppm sulfur average applies at the refinery gate, which is the point where finished...
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Second Quarter 2016 LCFS Credit Trends

November 17, 2016 ,

November 17, 2016 Each quarter, our Stillwater LCFS Quarterly Newsletter takes an in-depth look at one aspect of California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard and other low carbon standard efforts around the country. In our latest LCFS Quarterly Newsletter, Leigh Noda analyzes the LCFS credit trends. The following is an excerpt from the latest Stillwater Quarterly LCFS Newsletter. The credits and...
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Another upset at the Torrance Refinery

November 17, 2016 , ,

November 16, 2016 The former ExxonMobil refinery in Torrance, CA experienced an upset this week. As news helicopters circled above, the local fire department fought a fire that appeared to be in the alkylation unit. Thankfully, the media were reporting yesterday that there were no serious injuries. Today, OPIS reported that the refinery was back operating at full rates, although...
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How much “Ethanol Free” gasoline is out there?

November 16, 2016

November 15, 2016 By David Hackett The Federal Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) requires increasingly high levels of renewable fuels to be blended into transportation fuel. Ethanol provides the largest share of the renewable fuel pool so that nearly all of the gasoline sold in the U.S. is 10% ethanol. With this volume it would be easy to assume that there...
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Aging Pipelines Raise Concerns

November 11, 2016

November 2, 2016 Alison Sider and Nicole Friedman, The Wall Street Journal More than 60% of U.S. fuel pipelines were built before 1970, according to federal figures. Recent disruptions on Colonial Pipeline Co.’s fuel artery running up the East Coast show why some energy observers worry that this is a problem. The pipeline, which began operating fully in 1964, was...
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Oregon’s First Quarter of Clean Fuels Program Compliance

October 11, 2016

October 10, 2016 Each month, our Stillwater LCFS Monthly Newsletter takes an in-depth look at one aspect of California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard and other low carbon standard efforts around the country. In our latest LCFS Monthly Newsletter, Jim Mladenik compares the first quarter of Oregon’s Clean Fuels Program with California’s LCFS first quarter. The following is an excerpt from...
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Octane’s Value Proposition

August 10, 2016

Dave Hackett’s presentation at the American Coalition for Ethanol Annual Conference on August 10, 2016. This presentation explains the refining process, defines octane, and explains the octane market.  

LCFS Credit Price: What’s behind the nose dive?

August 9, 2016

August 9, 2016 Back in February, LCFS credit prices were trading for about $130 per metric tonne (MT). Prices were fairly steady through the spring, and then something happened in July to make the price drop. LCFS credits lost more than half of their value from February, hitting the $56/MT mark in the last week of July. Prices have rebounded...
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Where Demand Outstrips Capacity – U.S. East Coast Supply and Production

June 7, 2016

June 16, 2016 by David Hackett Supply to the East Coast is a complex mixture of local refineries, large pipeline movements from Texas and Louisiana and water shipments both barge and large ships.  The U.S. Energy Information Agency (EIA) divides the U.S. into five regions or PADDs (Petroleum Administration for Defense Districts) as shown in Figure 1.  The East Coast...
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When Good Term Contracts Go Bad – Lessons Learned

June 7, 2016

June 6, 2016 by Michael W. Bloch, with contributions from David Bulfin and David Wilshin Stillwater recently worked with several clients and their attorneys to resolve term contract disputes that led to litigation or arbitration. These disputes were grounded in the poor structure and understanding of the terms and conditions of the contracts. Often, the parties to the contract cannot...
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The Value Chain Part 1 – Oil Product Supply

May 24, 2016

Dave Hackett’s presentation at the OPIS Mexico – U.S. Petroleum Summit on May 24, 2016. This presentation discusses the current petroleum product flows in Mexico and the export flows from the U.S. into Mexico. It also takes a close look at wholesale prices along the border. VIEW PRESENTATION

Recap from Stillwater’s 2016 Annual Meeting

May 2, 2016

May 2, 2016 On April 2nd Stillwater held our 6th Annual Meeting in Irvine, CA. The Annual Meeting originated in 2011 with a handful of people sitting around a kitchen table discussing the future of the company. Since then it’s grown to a weekend-long event with 29 attendees, starting with a kick-off party at Stillwater World Headquarters. Associates flew in...
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Subscribe to Stillwater’s LCFS Newsletter Today!

May 2, 2016

Is your company impacted by California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard? The LCFS is well underway, and it’s important that Covered Entities and the companies that support them have the right information to make smart Credit Market decisions. Stillwater’s LCFS Newsletter is a powerful tool for Covered Entities to use as they navigate the standard. This unique publication offers the latest...
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Politics at play as CFTC tries to regulate excessive speculation of energy commodities

March 29, 2016

March 29, 2016 by Barry Schaps The Federal Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) began addressing the issue of excessive speculation and its effects on energy commodities since Congress enacted the Dodd-Frank Act following the financial meltdown of 2008. The legislation, passed in 2010, ordered the CFTC to set limits on the number of futures contracts a trader could hold for...
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How EPA’s Recent RFS Changes will Impact RFS Program Participants

March 29, 2016 ,

March 29, 2016 Stillwater Associate Mike Leister, offered a presentation at the AFPM Annual Meeting entitled How EPA’s Recent RFS Changes for 2014, 2015, and 2016 will Impact Various RFS Program Participants. EPA’s changes to the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) are meant to encourage the growth of production and use of biofuels. This is an initial step to drive greater E85 and...
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How RFS Changes Impact Program Participants

March 15, 2016

Michael Leister’s presentation at the 2016 AFPM Annual Meeting on March 15, 2016. This presentation discusses EPA’s changes to the RFS  which are meant to encourage the growth of production and use of biofuels and as an initial step to drive greater E85 and perhaps E15 sales. The presentation provides an analysis of the changes to the standards and how they will...
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The Oil Outlook for 2016

February 18, 2016

February 9, 2016 David Hackett About a year ago we wrote in this space that oil prices would continue to go down. We suggested that $35 was possible for a bottom for West Texas Intermediate price, but thought it would hold around $50 or $60 per barrel. (WTI closed on February 9 at $28.39, down 26% since New Year’s Day.)...
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Oil train plans hit roadblocks in California

February 18, 2016

February 12, 2016 Tony Bizjak, The Sacramento Bee Two years ago, it appeared that milelong trains carrying crude oil to refineries would soon be a regular feature on the California landscape – including several a day rumbling through Sacramento. Now, amid safety concerns, the state’s two highest-profile crude-by-rail project proposals, one in the north and one in the south, have...
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Why California gasoline is so expensive

February 17, 2016

Feb. 3, 2016 Dan McSwain, The San Diego Union-Tribune Although oil markets are bankrupting producers and draining government coffers from Moscow to Riyadh, plummeting costs are filling the pockets of ordinary consumers this year, right? Um, wrong, at least in California, where state government helps the refining industry keep gasoline prices aloft for months at a time. On Monday, at...
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