Fuel Waivers May Not Be Needed as Ethanol to Rise, Caruso Says
2006-05-02 13:43 (New York)
By Jim Kennett
May 2 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. states may not require waivers on
gasoline additives as supplies of ethanol are shifted from the
Midwest to other markets, the head of the Energy Information
Administration said.
A tight market for ethanol, which is replacing the use of
methyl tertiary butyl ether in gasoline, should ease as supplies
in the Midwest are moved to markets such as Houston, said Guy
Caruso, administrator of the statistical arm of the U.S. Energy
Department. Other sources of supplies should include new
production and an increase in imports, he said.
``We think the industry is going to make up what we think is
130,000 barrels of MTBE'' being phased out, Caruso told reporters
today at the Offshore Technology Conference in Houston. ``We're a
little optimistic that we may be over the hump, and may not
require waivers.''
Gasoline prices have soared and some service stations have
run out of fuel as ethanol supplies fail to meet demand before a
deadline to phase out MTBE. Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia and
Wisconsin asked for fuel waivers from the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency amid some shortages at service stations in the
East and Texas.
