Archive for April 2022
Fuel economics – Why do Renewable Identification Number (RIN) costs pass through to fuel price?
A 9-year, multi-billion dollar legal dispute between EPA and refiners is rooted in disagreements about fuel economics. One of the roots is the RIN pass-through theory. EPA says that, with the RIN credit system, market forces raise the equilibrium price of refined fuel blendstocks by an amount that offsets refiners’ cost for buying RINs. The…
Read MoreRefiners rebuffed again on RIN price passthrough part 3 – does this wipe out 1/3 of small refiners’ value?
In Thursday’s denial of 36 petitions for small refinery exemptions to their Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) obligations for the 2018 compliance year, EPA states it has determined that any small refinery seeking an exemption from its RFS obligations must 1) demonstrate that any disproportionate economic hardship it claims to experience is caused by compliance with…
Read MoreFor making clean fuels, 14 US refineries bite the dust
By clean fuels here, I mean conventional (not renewable) clean gasoline and clean diesel that meet clean fuel specifications for sale in the US. I count 14 US refineries on the casualty list. These 8 have converted (fully or partly) to renewable diesel in 2021 and 2022: These 6 have been closed or idled for…
Read MoreRefiners rebuffed again on RIN price pass-through – part 2
Yesterday, EPA denied 36 petitions from refiners seeking small refinery exemptions (SRE) to their Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) obligations for the 2018 compliance year. The denial repeats and builds on the large of body of evidence showing small refiners do not face disproportionate economic hardship as a result of their RFS obligations (see this blog…
Read MoreWhy are (were?) we importing oil from Russia?
In 2021, the US imported 700,000 barrels per day (BPD) of crude and refined products from Russia. Of this, 220,000 bpd are (were?) being used by Valero as feedstocks at their refineries in Norco LA. and Port Arthur Texas. These Russian barrels are classified as products, not crude oil. My conjecture is they serve as…
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