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Refiners unhappy with new RVO guidelines

A petroleum group says the EPA’s new biofuel blending requirements will cost consumers and taxpayers more. 

Geoff Cooper with the Renewable Fuels Association tells Brownfield that it isn’t the case. “There’s really no logical argument, no reasonable argument that the RFS is somehow raising fuel costs for consumers, and I think, you know, I think the administration understands that. Certainly, Congress understands that.”

In a recent statement, American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers CEO Chet Thompson said the RFS already costs nearly 25-cents per gallon, and the EPA’s rule will add tens of billions more. 

Cooper says refiners falsely believe they have to buy Renewable Identification Numbers, or RIN credits, to comply with the RFS. 

But he says, “That isn’t true. You don’t have to buy a RIN credit from another refiner. You can buy biofuel. You can buy ethanol, you can buy renewable diesel, you can buy biodiesel, you can blend it with the refined product you’re making at your refinery. You can get that RIN credit for free by doing that.”

He says ethanol can be purchased for about $2.00 a gallon, which comes with the RIN credit, compared to about $3.15 a gallon for wholesale gasoline.

The EPA’s 2026 rule requires 26.81 billion gallons of total renewable fuel, and 27.02 billion gallons for 2027.

The American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers say the new RVO requirements would cost Americans and refiners about $37 billion, or $770 per extra ethanol gallon.  The organization has not responded to Brownfield’s request for comment.