Latest news with #refineries
Reuters
29-05-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Exclusive: White House considers plan to clear record backlog of small refinery biofuel waivers
WASHINGTON, May 29 (Reuters) - The White House is weighing a plan to clear a record backlog of requests from small refineries for exemptions from U.S. biofuel laws, which could include approving many current applications and requesting industry input to deal with older ones, according to three sources familiar with the plans. The U.S. Renewable Fuel Standard requires refiners to blend biofuels like corn-based ethanol into the nation's fuel supply or buy renewable fuel credits, known as RINs, from those who do. Small refiners can petition the Environmental Protection Agency to receive an exemption if they can show financial hardship. There are more than 160 outstanding requests for exemptions that represent potentially billions of dollars worth of tradeable credits. A decision from U.S. President Donald Trump's administration to clear the backlog would have consequences for the oil and agricultural industries, and impact the price of commodities from gasoline and renewable diesel to soybeans and corn, along with the companies that produce them. In the past, widespread exemptions have sent credit prices lower, along with prices for soybeans and ethanol. The White House is considering granting many of the 19 requests for exemptions from 2024, and issuing a rule seeking input on how to deal with the others, some of which date back to 2016, the sources said. The Trump administration sees approving some requests and delaying others as less of a shock to the multi-billion-dollar credit market than deciding on all of them at once, the sources said. The White House would also likely force larger refiners TO make up for the exempted gallons in a process known as reallocation, but the details are still being worked out, the sources said. No final decision on a path forward has been made, the sources said, and details could change as industries step up engagement with the administration. The White House declined to comment. Molly Vaseliou, an EPA spokesperson, said there have been multiple reports about how the administration plans to tackle the exemptions, with different conclusions. She said news reports were "rumors" from people trying to influence the biofuel credit market. She did not confirm or deny the details reported by Reuters. Decisions on small refinery exemptions are made in a collaborative effort by the U.S. Department of Energy and the EPA, but the White House's Energy Dominance Council - along with White House aide Stephen Miller - has taken a lead role this time around, underscoring its importance, the sources told Reuters. During the first Trump administration, the EPA significantly increased the number of exemptions approved, driving down the price of the renewable fuel credits and angering the Farm Belt, which said the exemptions hurt a program that drove investment in the Midwest. The administration of former President Joe Biden was critical of the exemptions and let the applications linger without any decisions, resulting in the buildup. The RFS gives refiners who need to buy credits to comply with the program roughly two years to submit them to the EPA, complicating the administration's efforts to resolve outstanding credits from 2016 until 2022 that are effectively worthless.
Bloomberg
22-05-2025
- Automotive
- Bloomberg
China's Lithium City Is a Front Line of the Battery Trade War
The growl of extractors echoes across the vast mountaintop mines of Yichun in central China. A procession of heavy-duty trucks rolls down the valley to waiting refineries, where shipments of gray ore are processed into a battery material vital to the world's energy transition — lithium. The surging popularity of electric vehicles has transformed this once threadbare area into the country's lithium mining capital. But the incessant grind feeding the world's leading battery industry masks the reality that very few of those operating here are making a profit.
Reuters
20-05-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Stronger US hurricane season could mean more oil supply outages
NEW YORK, May 20 (Reuters) - An expected stronger hurricane season than average raises the risk of weather-related production outages in the U.S. oil industry, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said on Tuesday. A large portion of U.S. oil production and the bulk of the country's refineries are in areas prone to hurricanes along the U.S. Gulf Coast. That concentration means more than 1 million barrels per day of U.S. refining capacity, which is roughly 5% of daily U.S. petroleum consumption, is likely to be shut in anticipation of a major storm, the government agency said. Weather events can also disrupt supply chains, as witnessed last year in Florida, when a rush to evacuate ahead of Hurricane Milton caused widespread outages at fuel retail outlets. Researchers at Colorado State University estimate this year's hurricane season, which typically runs through the beginning of June to the end of November, will exceed the average from 1991 through 2020, with around 17 named storms expected this year compared to the average 14. Reports from AccuWeather show meteorologists expect three to six storms with direct impacts on the United States, the EIA said. Five hurricanes made landfall in the United States last year, knocking out millions of barrels of oil and gas output and disrupting fuel supply in Florida, the agency said.
Times
19-05-2025
- Business
- Times
Oil refineries can go green, but they are not being given a chance
Wood Mackenzie's recent report on global oil refining should raise alarms. It warned that 101 of 410 refineries worldwide — 21 per cent of capacity — face closure within a decade. This is especially true in the UK, where carbon taxes could be triple the global average by 2035. Refineries slow to adopt low-carbon technologies like carbon capture or alternative fuels are most at risk. Grangemouth's closure this year, leaving just five UK refineries, underscores the trend. While Asia adds 800,000 barrels per day of capacity, the UK grows reliant on imports, risking supply disruptions, price volatility and geopolitical exposure. Even the US Energy Information Administration has warned of possible fuel shortages following the closures of two major US refineries this year, cutting US
National Post
16-05-2025
- Automotive
- National Post
'Trump factor' could cause gas price volatility this summer, analyst says
The May long weekend is when gasoline prices tend to start levelling off ahead of the high-demand summer driving season. Article content Article content But Roger McKnight, chief petroleum analyst with En-Pro International, says the 'Trump factor' may throw long-held expectations about gas price behaviour out the window. Article content McKnight says in January and February, refineries go down for maintenance to switch over to producing summer fuels, raising prices until they peak around mid-April. Article content Article content What consumers see at the pump now might be what they get for the warmer months, but McKnight says the utterings of U.S. President Donald Trump on tariffs and geopolitical issues may jolt the market. Article content Article content He says the effects of the federal consumer carbon levy's demise seem to be holding after Prime Minister Mark Carney did away with the charge on April 1. Article content The levy equated to 17.6 cents per litre of gasoline, and McKnight says pump prices remain about 15 cents per litre lower than before the change took effect. Article content He adds that refineries are running at about 90 per cent capacity, which is low for this time of year. Article content 'The driving season is right around the corner, but the refining margins are so, so poor that the refiner is saying, 'Heck, we're just going to hold back … if we are not making good money on the stuff we're making,'' he said. Article content The price of crude oil, the raw product used to make gasoline and diesel, has been weak lately. Article content West Texas Intermediate, a U.S. benchmark for light oil, has been hovering around the US$60-per-barrel mark in recent weeks, about US$10 lower than it was just six months ago. Article content The Canadian Fuels Association, citing 2023 data from Kalibrate Canada Inc., said crude oil represents about 42 per cent of the pump price, with taxes, refining, distribution and marketing making up the rest. Article content
