Unleaded gasoline
supplies are down 6% from a year ago and demand
over the past four weeks was up 1.0% from a
year ago. As of December 23rd, the nation's
refineries were operating at 88.9% of capacity,
up slightly from the previous week. New EPA
requirements for low-sulfur gasoline went into
effect on January 1, 2006 and are expected to
result in even tighter supplies of available
gasoline. On December 6, 2005, the DOE predicted
that retail unleaded will average $2.38 per
gallon in the fourth quarter of 2005, up from
$1.94 a year ago.
Tougher U.S.
sulfur requirements for gasoline and diesel
could cut supplies as refiners shut plants to
revamp units, and foreign suppliers find other
markets with less stringent regulations, slashing
U.S. imports.
"Refiners
are already going to be feeling a bit of a pinch
in their ability to provide supply, and importers
as well," Jamal Qureshi, analyst at PFC
in Washington said.
Matthew Robinson
& Timothy Gardner, Reuters news. December
30, 2005.
Retail regular
gasoline prices are projected to average $2.27
per gallon in 2005 and $2.41 in 2006.
U.S. Department
of Energy's Short-term Energy Outlook. December
6, 2005.
"Twenty
years ago we had leaded and unleaded, and that
was it," said Rayola Dougher, senior policy
analyst with the American Petroleum Institute.
"Now we have 18 different types of gasoline
that are required to be sold around the country,
including summer and winter formulations. It's
a lot to juggle, and it's a real issue for refiners."
Boston Globe.
May 20, 2004.
Unleaded gasoline
supplies are down 4% from a year ago and demand
over the past four weeks was up 1.0% from a
year ago. As of January 6th, the nation's refineries
were operating at 89.8% of capacity, roughly
the same as the previous week. New EPA requirements
for low-sulfur gasoline went into effect on
January 1, 2006 and are expected to result in
even tighter supplies of available gasoline.
On January 10, 2005, the DOE predicted that
retail unleaded will average $2.37 per gallon
in the first quarter of 2006, up from $1.98
a year ago.
Retail regular gasoline prices,
which averaged $2.27 per gallon in 2005, are
projected to average $2.41 in 2006 and $2.33
in 2007.
U.S. Department of Energy's Short-term
Energy Outlook. January 10, 2006.
Gasoline imports will also be
affected by eliminating MTBE. Some foreign refiners
are not now capable of providing MTBE-free finished
gasoline to U.S. markets. While they might be
able to provide some MTBE-free gasoline components,
import facilities in the U.S. do not have the
blending facilities to handle a large switch
from finished gasoline to blending components.
In addition, importers previously providing
finished MTBE-blended RFG may not be able to
provide as much volume of high quality, low-RVP
blending components needed to produce the base
RFG blendstock for ethanol blending.
U.S. Department of Energy's "This
Week In Petroleum." January 5, 2006.
Tougher U.S. sulfur requirements
for gasoline and diesel could cut supplies as
refiners shut plants to revamp units, and foreign
suppliers find other markets with less stringent
regulations, slashing U.S. imports.
"Refiners are already going to
be feeling a bit of a pinch in their ability
to provide supply, and importers as well," Jamal
Qureshi, analyst at PFC in Washington said.
Matthew Robinson & Timothy Gardner,
Reuters news. December 30, 2005.
"Twenty years ago we had leaded
and unleaded, and that was it," said Rayola
Dougher, senior policy analyst with the American
Petroleum Institute. "Now we have 18 different
types of gasoline that are required to be sold
around the country, including summer and winter
formulations. It's a lot to juggle, and it's
a real issue for refiners."
Boston Globe. May 20, 2004.
