White House pushes for more talks after
'no deal' on biofuels
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[February 28, 2018]
By Jarrett Renshaw
(Reuters) - President Donald Trump has
asked for more talks between representatives of the oil and corn
industries after a meeting on Tuesday failed to yield an agreement on
how to help refiners cope with the country's biofuels policy.
Trump has called the talks between Big Corn and Big Oil amid rising
concern in the White House over the U.S. Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS),
a law requiring refiners to mix biofuels such as corn-based ethanol into
their fuel.
The decade-old policy was intended to help farmers and reduce U.S.
petroleum imports but has increasingly divided farmers and energy
companies - two of Trump's most important constituencies. A refining
company in the key electoral state of Pennsylvania last month blamed the
RFS for its bankruptcy.
The meeting on Tuesday included Republican Senators Ted Cruz of Texas
and Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania - both from major oil refining states -
along with Charles Grassley and Joni Ernst of major corn grower state
Iowa.
"No deal made," said Grassley in a Twitter post after the meeting,
adding the proposals discussed were "not 'win win'" and would "destroy
ethanol demand."
Cruz issued a statement saying the meeting was "positive and productive"
and added that Trump had requested another session this week. "After
that meeting, I believe we are likely to arrive upon a win-win
solution," Cruz said.
White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders confirmed the Tuesday meeting on
biofuels and said: "We're going to continue having conversations."
Under the RFS, refiners must cover the costs of blending increasing
volumes of biofuels such as ethanol into the nation's gasoline and
diesel each year. To prove compliance with the program, they have to
acquire credits called RINs, either by earning them through blending or
by buying them.
As biofuels volume quotas have increased over the years, so have prices
for the credits. That has been good news for companies that blend the
fuels, but refiners that do not have blending facilities are facing
rising costs.
Oil refiner Philadelphia Energy Solutions Inc (PES) <PESC.N>, which
employs more than 1,000 people in the Philadelphia area, filed for
bankruptcy protection last month and blamed the regulation for its
demise.
Reuters reported that other factors may also have played a role in the
bankruptcy, including the withdrawal of more than $590 million in
dividend-style payments from the company by its investor owners.
Sources told Reuters the PES would have a representative at the next
White House meeting, likely on Thursday.
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Ernst and Grassley have both said they disagree with critics who say
RINs are harmful to refiners, underscoring the fact that the two
sides cannot even agree on the facts, let alone the solutions. They
point out other refiners, such as Valero Energy Corp <VLO.N> and
Marathon Petroleum Corp <MPC.N>, are pulling in solid profits
despite the biofuels regulation.
America's biggest ethanol producers include Archer Daniels Midland
Co <ADM.N> and POET LLC.
HANDFUL OF OPTIONS
At least four options aimed at reducing the cost of RINs were up for
consideration, two sources familiar with the agenda of the White
House meeting said.
One was to count U.S. ethanol exports toward annual biofuels volume
mandates, something not currently permitted under the policy.
Another was to place a hard cap on the price of a RIN, and a third
was to limit RIN trades to blenders and refiners - essentially to
remove market speculation, the sources said.
To sweeten the deal for the corn industry, any deal would have
likely included a waiver to allow gasoline containing 15 percent
ethanol to be sold year round. Sales of high-ethanol blends are
currently restricted during the summer due to concerns over smog.
Discussions could also look at solutions focused more directly on
refiner PES, like waiving its current RIN obligation valued at about
$350 million, the sources said. But such a move would likely draw a
backlash from other refiners who have no hope of receiving such a
waiver.
While the White House meetings have focused on fixes that could be
implemented with executive or regulatory action, there is a separate
legislative effort to alter the RFS, led by Republican Senator John
Cornyn of Texas. But it too faces stiff resistance from corn states.
(Reporting by Jarrett Renshaw in Philadelphia; Writing by Richard
Valdmanis; Editing by Susan Thomas and Lisa Shumaker)
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