In a prev article posted by Skunksyard, notice that in the Dallas trainyards that an "embargo" has taken place due to the increased traffic as the result of tranporting the needed ethanol across country. More local ethanol plants will be needed throughout the US to reduce the demand placed on the rail system. <<<Fast-Ad is "sending some [4 points] to the Midwest right now," said Barnes, as well as the South, and on the East Coast "all the way from Florida to New Jersey," said Barnes.
The revelation caps off a week of retail gasoline price scrutiny by legislators, starting with President George W. Bush telling retailers on April 25 that he would "make sure Americans are treated fairly at the gas pump."
Retail gasoline prices have jumped recently, in part due to crude prices that have risen above $70 per barrel. Prices are also being driven higher in some places by a switch to ethanol-blended reformulated gasoline from MTBE blends that has propelled ethanol prices to their highest levels ever. New York spot market ethanol hit $2.74-2.75/gallon April 27, according to Platts, versus $1.20-1.23 a year ago.
The ethanol switch is also crimping supply, with the East Coast particularly vulnerable as it blends corn-based ethanol, which must be transported from Midwest plants. Ethanol, unlike MTBE, tends to absorb water, so many refiners are trying to move it mainly on trains or trucks. The extra traffic has clogged US railroads, with Union Pacific announcing an "embargo" situation in the Dallas area this week that has slowed movement of ethanol and helped create spot RFG retail outages.
Still, $4/gallon gasoline is a "random occurrence" in the US at this point, according to Angela Veitch, statistician with the Energy Information Administration who is in charge of the agency's weekly gasoline price report.
EIA's report for the week ending April 24 showed the retail gasoline price for regular grade in New York was $3.077/gallon, putting it among the highest in the nation. That was the first time New York's average for both conventional and RFG grades broke $3, according to EIA data that runs back through 2000.>>>> RTB
AI
